Teks -- 1 Corinthians 14:1-40 (NET)

Prophecy and Tongues

14:1 Pursue love and be eager for the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 14:2 For the one speaking in a tongue does not speak to people but to God, for no one understands; he is speaking mysteries by the Spirit. 14:3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation. 14:4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 14:5 I wish you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be strengthened. 14:6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I help you unless I speak to you with a revelation or with knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 14:7 It is similar for lifeless things that make a sound, like a flute or harp. Unless they make a distinction in the notes, how can what is played on the flute or harp be understood? 14:8 If, for example, the trumpet makes an unclear sound, who will get ready for battle? 14:9 It is the same for you. If you do not speak clearly with your tongue, how will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air. 14:10 There are probably many kinds of languages in the world, and none is without meaning. 14:11 If then I do not know the meaning of a language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 14:12 It is the same with you. Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, seek to abound in order to strengthen the church. 14:13 So then, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14:14 If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unproductive. 14:15 What should I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing praises with my spirit, but I will also sing praises with my mind. 14:16 Otherwise, if you are praising God with your spirit, how can someone without the gift say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? 14:17 For you are certainly giving thanks well, but the other person is not strengthened. 14:18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you, 14:19 but in the church I want to speak five words with my mind to instruct others, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue. 14:20 Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking. Instead, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 14:21 It is written in the law: “By people with strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, yet not even in this way will they listen to me,” says the Lord. 14:22 So then, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 14:23 So if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and unbelievers or uninformed people enter, will they not say that you have lost your minds? 14:24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or uninformed person enters, he will be convicted by all, he will be called to account by all. 14:25 The secrets of his heart are disclosed, and in this way he will fall down with his face to the ground and worship God, declaring, “God is really among you.”

Church Order

14:26 What should you do then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a song, has a lesson, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the strengthening of the church. 14:27 If someone speaks in a tongue, it should be two, or at the most three, one after the other, and someone must interpret. 14:28 But if there is no interpreter, he should be silent in the church. Let him speak to himself and to God. 14:29 Two or three prophets should speak and the others should evaluate what is said. 14:30 And if someone sitting down receives a revelation, the person who is speaking should conclude. 14:31 For you can all prophesy one after another, so all can learn and be encouraged. 14:32 Indeed, the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, 14:33 for God is not characterized by disorder but by peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 14:34 the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says. 14:35 If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home, because it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church. 14:36 Did the word of God begin with you, or did it come to you alone? 14:37 If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, he should acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. 14:38 If someone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. 14:39 So then, brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid anyone from speaking in tongues. 14:40 And do everything in a decent and orderly manner.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Robertson: 1Co 14:1 - Follow after love

Follow after love ( diōkete tēn agapēn ).

As if a veritable chase. Paul comes back to the idea in 1Co 12:31 (same use of zēloute ) and proves the superiority of prophecy to the other spiritual gifts not counting faith, hope, love of 1Co 13:13.

Robertson: 1Co 14:1 - But rather that ye may prophesy

But rather that ye may prophesy ( mallon de hina prophēteuēte ).

Distinct aim in view as in 1Co 14:5. Old verb from prophētēs , common in N.T. Present subjunctive, "that ye may keep on prophesying."

Robertson: 1Co 14:2 - For no man understandeth

For no man understandeth ( oudeis gar akouei ).

Literally, hears, gets the sense, understands. Verb akouō used either of hearing the sound only or getting the idea (cf. Act 9:7; Act 22:9).

Robertson: 1Co 14:2 - Mysteries

Mysteries ( mustēria ).

Unexplained mysteries (1Co 2:7).

Robertson: 1Co 14:3 - Edification

Edification ( oikodomēn ).

Building up.

Robertson: 1Co 14:3 - Comfort

Comfort ( paraklēsin ).

Encouragement, calling to one’ s side.

Robertson: 1Co 14:3 - Consolation

Consolation ( paramuthian ).

Old word (from para , muthos , paramutheomai 1Th 2:12 which see, a stimulating word), nowhere else in N.T., but paramuthion in Phi 2:1 with paraklēsis as here. Edification, cheer, incentive in these words.

Robertson: 1Co 14:4 - The church

The church ( ekklēsian ).

No article, literally, "a church"(local use). Not hē ekklēsia .

Robertson: 1Co 14:5 - Except he interpret

Except he interpret ( ektos ei mē diermēneuēi ).

Pleonastic combination of ektos (preposition except) and ei mē (if not, unless) as in 1Co 15:2; 1Ti 5:19. For use of ei with subjunctive rather than ean see note on Phi 3:12 (common enough in the Koiné, Robertson, Grammar , pp. 1017f., condition of third class). On the verb see 1Co 12:30; Luk 24:27; Act 9:36.

Robertson: 1Co 14:5 - Receive

Receive ( labēi ).

Second aorist (ingressive) active subjunctive of lambanō , may get edification.

Robertson: 1Co 14:6 - If I come

If I come ( ean elthō ).

Third class condition, supposable case (aorist subjunctive).

Robertson: 1Co 14:6 - What shall I profit you

What shall I profit you ( ti humas ōphelēsō ).

Two accusatives with this verb (see note on 1Co 13:3).

Robertson: 1Co 14:6 - Unless I speak

Unless I speak ( ean mē lalēsō ).

Second condition (also third class) with the one conclusion (cf. 1Ti 2:5).

Robertson: 1Co 14:7 - Things without life

Things without life ( apsucha ).

Without a soul (a privative, psuchē ) or life. Old word only here in N.T.

Robertson: 1Co 14:7 - Pipe

Pipe ( aulos ).

Old word (from aō , auō , to blow), only here in N.T.

Robertson: 1Co 14:7 - Harp

Harp ( kithara ).

Old word. Stringed instrument as pipe, a wind instrument.

Robertson: 1Co 14:7 - If they give not a distinction in the sounds

If they give not a distinction in the sounds ( ean diastolēn tois phthoggois mē dōi ).

Third class condition with second aorist active subjunctive dōi from didōmi . Common word in late Greek for difference (diastellō , to send apart). In N.T. only here and Rom 3:22; Rom 10:12. Phthoggos old word (from phtheggomai ) for musical sounds vocal or instrumental. In N.T. only here and Rom 10:18.

Robertson: 1Co 14:8 - An uncertain voice

An uncertain voice ( adēlon phōnēn ).

Old adjective (a privative, dēlos , manifest). In N.T. only here and Luk 11:44. Military trumpet (salpigx ) is louder than pipe or harp.

Robertson: 1Co 14:8 - Shall prepare himself

Shall prepare himself ( paraskeuasetai ).

Direct middle future indicative of paraskeuazō , old verb, in N.T. only here, 2Co 9:2.; Act 10:10. From para , skeuē (preparation).

Robertson: 1Co 14:9 - Unless ye utter speech easy to be understood

Unless ye utter speech easy to be understood ( ean mē eusēmon logon dōte ).

Condition of third class again (ean and aorist subjunctive). Eusēmon (eu , well, sēma , sign) is old word, here only in N.T., well-marked, distinct, clear. Good enunciation, a hint for speakers.

Robertson: 1Co 14:9 - Ye will be speaking into the air

Ye will be speaking into the air ( esesthe eis aera lalountes ).

Periphrastic future indicative (linear action). Cf. aera derōn (beating the air) in 1Co 9:26. Cf. our talking to the wind. This was before the days of radio.

Robertson: 1Co 14:10 - It may be

It may be ( ei tuchoi ).

Condition of fourth class (ei and aorist optative of tugchanō ), if it should happen. Common enough idiom. Cf. tuchon in 1Co 16:6.

Robertson: 1Co 14:10 - Without signification

Without signification ( aphōnon ).

Old adjective (a privative and phōnē ). Without the faculty of speech (1Co 12:2; Act 8:32; 2Pe 2:16).

Robertson: 1Co 14:11 - The meaning of the voice

The meaning of the voice ( tēn dunamin tēs phōnēs ).

The power (force) of the voice.

Robertson: 1Co 14:11 - A barbarian

A barbarian ( barbaros ).

Jargon, baṙbar . The Egyptians called all barbarous who did not speak their tongue. The Greeks followed suit for all ignorant of Greek language and culture. They divided mankind into Hellenes and Barbarians.

Robertson: 1Co 14:11 - Unto me

Unto me ( en emoi ).

In my case, almost like a dative.

Robertson: 1Co 14:12 - Zealous of spiritual gifts

Zealous of spiritual gifts ( zēlōtai pneumatōn ).

Zealots for spirits. So it looked.

Robertson: 1Co 14:12 - That ye may abound

That ye may abound ( hina perisseuēte ).

Purpose clause with the object by prolepsis stated beforehand "for the edification of the church."

Robertson: 1Co 14:13 - Let him pray that he may interpret

Let him pray that he may interpret ( proseuchesthō hina diermēneuēi ).

Else he had better cease talking in a tongue.

Robertson: 1Co 14:14 - But my understanding is unfruitful

But my understanding is unfruitful ( ho de nous mou akarpos ).

My intellect (nous ) gets no benefit (akarpos , without fruit) from rhapsodical praying that may even move my spirit (pneuma ).

Robertson: 1Co 14:15 - With the understanding also

With the understanding also ( kai tōi no‹ ).

Instrumental case of nous . Paul is distinctly in favour of the use of the intellect in prayer. Prayer is an intelligent exercise of the mind.

Robertson: 1Co 14:15 - And I will sing with the understanding also

And I will sing with the understanding also ( psalō de kai tōi no‹ ).

There was ecstatic singing like the rhapsody of some prayers without intelligent words. But Paul prefers singing that reaches the intellect as well as stirs the emotions. Solos that people do not understand lose more than half their value in church worship. Psallō originally meant to play on strings, then to sing with an accompaniment (Eph 5:19), and here apparently to sing without regard to an instrument.

Robertson: 1Co 14:16 - Else if thou bless with the spirit

Else if thou bless with the spirit ( epei ean eulogēis en pneumati ).

Third class condition. He means that, if one is praying and praising God (1Co 10:16) in an ecstatic prayer, the one who does not understand the ecstasy will be at a loss when to say "amen"at the close of the prayer. In the synagogues the Jews used responsive amens at the close of prayers (Neh 5:13; Neh 8:6; 1Ch 16:36; Psa 106:48).

Robertson: 1Co 14:16 - He that filleth the place of the unlearned

He that filleth the place of the unlearned ( ho anaplērōn ton topon tou idiōtou ).

Not a special part of the room, but the position of the idiōtou (from idios , one’ s own), common from Herodotus for private person (Act 4:13), unskilled (2Co 11:6), uninitiated (unlearned) in the gift of tongues as here and 1Co 14:23.

Robertson: 1Co 14:16 - At thy giving of thanks

At thy giving of thanks ( epi tēi sēi eucharistiāi ).

Just the prayer, not the Eucharist or the Lord’ s Supper, as is plain from 1Co 14:17.

Robertson: 1Co 14:18 - More than you all

More than you all ( pantōn humōn mallon ).

Ablative case after mallon . Astonishing claim by Paul that doubtless had a fine effect.

Robertson: 1Co 14:19 - Howbeit in church

Howbeit in church ( alla en ekklēsiāi ).

Private ecstasy is one thing (cf. 2Co 12:1-9) but not in church worship.

Robertson: 1Co 14:19 - That I may instruct

That I may instruct ( hina katēchēsō ).

Final clause with hina . For the rare verb katēcheō see note on Luk 1:4 and note on Act 18:25.

Robertson: 1Co 14:20 - Be not children in mind

Be not children in mind ( mē paidia ginesthe tais phresin ).

"Cease becoming children in your intellects,"as some of them evidently were. Cf. Heb 5:11-14 for a like complaint of intellectual dulness for being old babies.

Robertson: 1Co 14:20 - In malice be ye babes

In malice be ye babes ( tēi kakiāi nēpiazete ).

Robertson: 1Co 14:20 - Be men

Be men ( teleioi ginesthe ).

Keep on becoming adults in your minds. A noble and a needed command, pertinent today.

Robertson: 1Co 14:21 - In the law it is written

In the law it is written ( en tōi nomōi gegraptai ).

Isa 28:11. Freely quoted.

Robertson: 1Co 14:22 - For a sign

For a sign ( eis sēmeion ).

Like the Hebrew and occasional Koiné[28928]š idiom also.

Robertson: 1Co 14:23 - Will they not say that ye are mad?

Will they not say that ye are mad? ( ouk erousin hoti mainesthė ).

These unbelievers unacquainted (idiōtai ) with Christianity will say that the Christians are raving mad (see note on Act 12:15 and see note on Act 26:24). They will seem like a congregation of lunatics.

Robertson: 1Co 14:24 - He is reproved by all

He is reproved by all ( elegchetai hupo pantōn ).

Old word for strong proof, is undergoing conviction.

Robertson: 1Co 14:24 - Is judged

Is judged ( anakrinetai ).

Is tested. Cf. 1Co 2:15; 1Co 4:3.

Robertson: 1Co 14:25 - That God is among you indeed

That God is among you indeed ( hoti ontōs en humin estin ).

Recitative hoti and direct quotation from Isa 45:15 (Hebrew rather than the lxx). "Really (ontōs Luk 24:34) God is in you."

Robertson: 1Co 14:26 - When ye come together

When ye come together ( hotan sunerchēsthe ).

Present middle subjunctive, repetition, whenever ye come together, in contrast with special case (ean sunelthēi , second aorist subjunctive) in 1Co 14:23.

Robertson: 1Co 14:27 - By two

By two ( kata duo ).

According to two, ratio.

Robertson: 1Co 14:27 - Or at most

Or at most ( ē to pleiston ).

Adverbial accusative, "or at the most."

Robertson: 1Co 14:27 - Three

Three ( treis ).

Kata to be repeated.

Robertson: 1Co 14:27 - And that in turn

And that in turn ( kai ana meros ).

One at a time and not over three in all.

Robertson: 1Co 14:28 - But if there be no interpreter

But if there be no interpreter ( ean de mē ēi diermēneutēs ).

Third class condition. Earliest known instance and possibly made by Paul from verb in 1Co 14:27. Reappears in Byzantine grammarians.

Robertson: 1Co 14:28 - Keep silence in church

Keep silence in church ( sigatō en ekklēsiāi ).

Linear action (present active imperative). He is not even to speak in a tongue once. He can indulge his private ecstasy with God.

Robertson: 1Co 14:29 - By two or three

By two or three ( duo ē treis ).

No kata here as in 1Co 14:27. Let two or three prophets speak.

Robertson: 1Co 14:29 - Let the others discern

Let the others discern ( hoi alloi diakrinetōsan ).

Whether what is said is really of the Spirit. Cf. 1Co 12:10 diakriseis pneumatōn .

Robertson: 1Co 14:30 - Let the first keep silence

Let the first keep silence ( ho prōtos sigatō ).

To give the next one a chance.

Robertson: 1Co 14:31 - One by one

One by one ( kath' ena ).

Regular idiom.

Robertson: 1Co 14:32 - The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets

The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets ( pneumata prophētōn prophētais hupotassetai ).

A principle that some had forgotten.

Robertson: 1Co 14:33 - Not of confusion

Not of confusion ( ou̇̇katastasias ).

God is not a God of disorder, but of peace. We need this reminder today.

Robertson: 1Co 14:33 - As in all the churches of the saints

As in all the churches of the saints ( hōs en pasais tais ekklēsiais tōn hagiōn ).

Orderly reverence is a mark of the churches. This is a proper conclusion of his argument as in 1Co 11:16.

Robertson: 1Co 14:34 - Keep silence in the churches

Keep silence in the churches ( en tais ekklēsiais sigatōsan ).

The same verb used about the disorders caused by speakers in tongues (1Co 14:28) and prophets (1Co 14:30). For some reason some of the women were creating disturbance in the public worship by their dress (1Co 11:2-16) and now by their speech. There is no doubt at all as to Paul’ s meaning here. In church the women are not allowed to speak (lalein ) nor even to ask questions. They are to do that at home (en oikōi ). He calls it a shame (aischron ) as in 1Co 11:6 (cf. Eph 5:12; Tit 1:11). Certainly women are still in subjection (hupotassesthōsan ) to their husbands (or ought to be). But somehow modern Christians have concluded that Paul’ s commands on this subject, even 1Ti 2:12, were meant for specific conditions that do not apply wholly now. Women do most of the teaching in our Sunday schools today. It is not easy to draw the line. The daughters of Philip were prophetesses. It seems clear that we need to be patient with each other as we try to understand Paul’ s real meaning here.

Robertson: 1Co 14:37 - The commandment of the Lord

The commandment of the Lord ( Kuriou entolē ).

The prophet or the one with the gift of tongues or the disturbing woman would be quick to resent the sharp words of Paul. He claims inspiration for his position.

Robertson: 1Co 14:40 - Decently and in order

Decently and in order ( euschēmonōs kai kata taxin ).

That is surely a good rule for all matters of church life and worship. It applies also to the function of women in church service.

Vincent: 1Co 14:3 - To edification - exhortation - comfort

To edification - exhortation - comfort ( οἰκοδομὴν - παράκλησιν - παραμυθίαν )

Omit to . For edification see on build up , Act 20:32. Exhortation , so American Rev. Rev., comfort . See on Luk 6:24. Παραμυθία comfort , Rev., consolation , occurs only here in the New Testament. Παραμύθιον , which is the same, in Phi 2:1. The two latter words are found together in Phi 2:1, and their kindred verbs in 1Th 2:11. The differences in rendering are not important. The words will bear either of the meanings in the two Revisions. If παράκλησιν be rendered as Rev., comfort , παραμυθία might be rendered incentive, which implies exhortation . Consolation and comfort border a little too closely on each other.

Vincent: 1Co 14:7 - Voice

Voice ( φωνὴν )

See on sound , Rom 10:18. The sound generally. Used sometimes of sounds emitted by things without life, as a trumpet or the wind. See Mat 24:31; Joh 3:8.

Vincent: 1Co 14:7 - Harp

Harp ( κιθάρα )

See on Rev 5:8.

Vincent: 1Co 14:7 - Distinction

Distinction ( διαστολὴν )

Proper modulation. Compare the use of the word in Rom 3:22; Rom 10:12.

Vincent: 1Co 14:7 - Sounds

Sounds ( φθόγγοις )

The distinctive sounds as modulated. See on Rom 10:18.

Vincent: 1Co 14:8 - The trumpet

The trumpet ( σάλπιγξ )

Properly, a war-trumpet .

Vincent: 1Co 14:8 - Sound

Sound ( φωνὴν )

Rev., much better, voice , preserving the distinction between the mere sound of the trumpet and the modulated notes. The case might be illustrated by the bugle calls or points by which military commands are issued, as distinguished from the mere blare of the trumpet.

Vincent: 1Co 14:10 - Voices - without signification

Voices - without signification ( φωνῶν - ἄφωνων )

The translation loses the word-play. So many kinds of voices , and no kind is voiceless . By voices are meant languages .

Vincent: 1Co 14:11 - Meaning

Meaning ( δύναμιν )

Lit., force .

Vincent: 1Co 14:11 - Barbarian

Barbarian

Supposed to be originally a descriptive word of those who uttered harsh, rude accents - bar bar . Homer calls the Carians, βαρβαρόφωνοι barbar-voiced , harsh-speaking (" Illiad," 2, 867). Later, applied to all who did not speak Greek. Socrates, speaking of the way in which the Greeks divide up mankind, says: " Here they cut off the Hellenes as one species, and all the other species of mankind, which are innumerable and have no connection or common language, they include under the single name of barbarians " (Plato, " Statesman," 262). So Clytaemnestra of the captive Cassandra: " Like a swallow, endowed with an unintelligible barbaric voice" (Aeschylus, " Agamemnon," 1051). Prodicus in Plato's " Protagoras" says: " Simonides is twitting Pittacus with ignorance of the use of terms, which, in a Lesbian, who has been accustomed to speak in a barbarous language, is natural" (341). Aristophanes calls the birds barbarians because they sing inarticulately (" Birds," 199); and Sophocles calls a foreign land ἄγλωσσος without a tongue . " Neither Hellas nor a tongueless land" (" Trachiniae," 1060). Later, the word took the sense of outlandish or rude .

Vincent: 1Co 14:12 - Spiritual gifts

Spiritual gifts ( πνευμάτων )

Lit., spirits . Paul treats the different spiritual manifestations as if they represented a variety of spirits. To an observer of the unseemly rivalries it would appear as if not one spirit, but different spirits, were the object of their zeal.

Vincent: 1Co 14:13 - Pray that he may interpret

Pray that he may interpret ( προσευχέσθω ἵνα διερμηνεύῃ )

Not, pray for the gift of interpretation, but use his unknown tongue in prayer, which, above all other spiritual gifts, would minister to the power of interpreting.

Vincent: 1Co 14:14 - Spirit

Spirit ( πνεῦμα )

The human spirit, which is moved by the divine Spirit. See on Rom 8:4.

Vincent: 1Co 14:14 - Understanding

Understanding ( νοῦς )

See on Rom 7:23.

Vincent: 1Co 14:14 - Is unfruitful

Is unfruitful ( ἄκαρπός ἐστιν )

Furnishes nothing to others.

Vincent: 1Co 14:15 - I will sing

I will sing ( ψαλῶ )

See on Jam 5:13. The verb, ᾄδω is also used for sing , Eph 5:19; Col 3:16; Rev 5:9; Rev 14:3; Rev 15:3. In the last two passages it is combined with playing on harps. In Eph 5:19 we have both verbs. The noun ψαλμός psalm (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16; 1Co 14:26), which is etymologically akin to this verb, is used in the New Testament of a religious song in general, having the character of an Old Testament psalm; though in Mat 26:30; Mar 14:26, ὑμνέω hymneo, whence our hymn , is used of singing an Old Testament psalm. Here applied to such songs improvised under the spiritual ecstasy (1Co 14:26). Some think that the verb has here its original signification of singing with an instrument. This is its dominant sense in the Septuagint, and both Basil and Gregory of Nyssa define a psalm as implying instrumental accompaniment; and Clement of Alexandria, while forbidding the use of the flute in the agapae, permitted the harp. But neither Basil nor Ambrose nor Chrysostom, in their panegyrics upon music, mention instrumental music, and Basil expressly condemns it. Bingham dismisses the matter summarily, and sites Justin Martyr as saying expressly that instrumental music was not used in the Christian Church. The verb is used here in the general sense of singing praise.

Vincent: 1Co 14:16 - The place

The place ( τὸν τόπον )

Some explain of a particular seat in the assembly. Rather it expresses the condition of those who are unintelligent as regards the utterance in an unknown tongue.

Vincent: 1Co 14:16 - The unlearned

The unlearned ( ἰδιώτου )

Only once outside of the Corinthian Epistles: Act 4:13 (see note). In the Septuagint it does not occur, but its kindred words are limited to the sense of private , personal . Trench (" Synonyms" ) illustrates the fact that in classical Greek there lies habitually in the word " a negative of the particular skill, knowledge, profession, or standing, over against which it is antithetically set; and not of any other except that alone." As over against the physician, for instance, he is ἰδιώτης in being unskilled in medicine. This is plainly the case here - the man who is unlearned as respects the gift of tongues. From the original meaning of a private individual, the word came to denote one who was unfit for public life, and therefore uneducated, and finally, one whose mental powers were deficient. Hence our idiot . Idiot , however, in earlier English, was used in the milder sense of an uneducated person. Thus " Christ was received of idiots , of the vulgar people, and of the simpler sort" (Blount). " What, wenest thou make an idiot of our dame?" (Chaucer, 5893). " This plain and idiotical style of Scripture." " Pictures are the scripture of idiots and simple persons" (Jeremy Taylor).

Vincent: 1Co 14:16 - Amen

Amen

Rev., correctly, the Amen. The customary response of the congregation, adopted from the synagogue worship. See Deu 27:15 sqq.; Neh 8:6. The Rabbins have numerous sayings about the Amen. " Greater is he who responds Amen than he who blesses." " Whoever answers Amen, his name shall be great and blessed, and the decree of his damnation is utterly done away." " To him who answers Amen the gates of Paradise are open." An ill-considered Amen was styled " an orphan Amen." " Whoever says an orphan Amen, his children shall be orphans." The custom was perpetuated in Christian worship, and this response enters into all the ancient liturgies. Jerome says that the united voice of the people in the Amen sounded like the fall of water or the sound of thunder.

Vincent: 1Co 14:19 - Teach

Teach ( κατηχήσω )

Orally. See on Luk 1:4.

Vincent: 1Co 14:20 - Understanding

Understanding ( σρεσίν )

Only here in the New Testament. Originally, in a physical sense, the diaphragm . Denoting the reasoning power on the reflective side, and perhaps intentionally used instead of νοῦς (1Co 14:15), which emphasizes the distinction from ecstasy.

Vincent: 1Co 14:20 - Children - be ye children

Children - be ye children ( παιδία - νηπιάζετε )

The A.V. misses the distinction between children and babes , the stronger term for being unversed in malice. In understanding they are to be above mere children . In malice they are to be very babes . See on child , 1Co 13:11.

Vincent: 1Co 14:20 - Malice

Malice ( κακίᾳ )

See on Jam 1:21.

Vincent: 1Co 14:20 - Men

Men ( τέλειοι )

Lit., perfect . See on 1Co 2:6.

Vincent: 1Co 14:21 - It is written, etc

It is written, etc.

From Isa 28:11, Isa 28:12. The quotation does not correspond exactly either to the Hebrew or to the Septuagint. Heb., with stammerings of lip . Sept., By reason of contemptuous words of lips . Paul omits the Heb.: This is the rest , give ye rest to the weary , and this is the repose . Sept.: This is the rest to him who is hungry , and this is the ruin . The point of the quotation is that speech in strange tongues was a chastisement for the unbelief of God's ancient people, by which they were made to hear His voice " speaking in the harsh commands of the foreign invader." So in the Corinthian Church, the intelligible revelation of God has not been properly received.

Vincent: 1Co 14:24 - Convinced

Convinced ( ἐλέγχεται )

Of his sins. See on tell him his fault , Mat 18:15; see on convinced , Jam 2:9; see on reproved , Joh 3:20. Rev., reproved : convicted in margin.

Vincent: 1Co 14:24 - Judged

Judged ( ἀνακρίνεται )

Examined and judged. The word implies inquiry rather than sentence . Each inspired speaker, in his heart-searching utterances, shall start questions which shall reveal the hearer to himself. See on discerned , 1Co 2:14. On the compounds of κρίνω , see on 1Co 11:29, 1Co 11:31, 1Co 11:32.

Vincent: 1Co 14:27 - By two, etc

By two, etc.

That is, to the number of two or three at each meeting.

Vincent: 1Co 14:27 - By course

By course ( ἀνὰ μέρος )

Rev., correctly, in turn . Edwards' explanation, antiphonally , is quite beside the mark.

Vincent: 1Co 14:29 - Judge

Judge

See on 1Co 11:29. Referring to the gift of the discernment of spirits. See on 1Co 12:10.

Vincent: 1Co 14:30 - That sitteth

That sitteth

Rev., sitting by . The speaker standing.

Vincent: 1Co 14:32 - The spirits

The spirits

The movements and manifestations of the divine Spirit in the human spirit, as in 1Co 12:10.

Vincent: 1Co 14:32 - Are subject

Are subject

" People speak as if the divine authority of the prophetic word were somehow dependent on, or confirmed by, the fact that the prophets enjoyed visions.... In the New Testament Paul lays down the principle that, in true prophecy, self-consciousness, and self-command are never lost. 'The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets'" (W. Robertson Smith, " The Prophets of Israel" ).

Vincent: 1Co 14:33 - Confusion

Confusion ( ἀκαταστασίας )

See on commotions , Luk 21:9; and see on unruly , Jam 3:8. Compare 2Co 6:5.

Vincent: 1Co 14:33 - As in all the churches of the saints

As in all the churches of the saints

Many connect these words with let the women , etc. The old arrangement is retained by Rev. and by Westcott and Hort, though the latter regard the words and the spirits - of peace as parenthetical. I see no good reason for departing from the old arrangement.

Vincent: 1Co 14:38 - Let him be ignorant

Let him be ignorant ( ἀγνοείτω )

Let him remain ignorant. The text is doubtful. Some read ἀγνοεῖται he is not known ; i.e., he is one whom God knows not.

Wesley: 1Co 14:1 - Follow after love

With zeal, vigour, courage, patience; else you can neither attain nor keep it.

Wesley: 1Co 14:1 - And

In their place, as subservient to this.

Wesley: 1Co 14:1 - Desire spiritual gifts; but especially that ye may prophesy

The word here does not mean foretelling things to come; but rather opening and applying the scripture.

Wesley: 1Co 14:2 - He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaks, in effect, not to men, but to God

Who alone understands him.

Wesley: 1Co 14:4 - Edifieth himself

Only, on the most favourable supposition.

Wesley: 1Co 14:4 - The church

The whole congregation.

Wesley: 1Co 14:5 - Greater

That is, more useful. By this alone are we to estimate all our gifts and talents.

Wesley: 1Co 14:6 - Revelation

Of some gospel mystery.

Wesley: 1Co 14:6 - Knowledge

Explaining the ancient types and prophecies.

Wesley: 1Co 14:6 - Prophecy

Foretelling some future event.

Wesley: 1Co 14:6 - Doctrine

To regulate your tempers and lives. Perhaps this may be the sense of these obscure words.

Wesley: 1Co 14:7 - How shall it be known what is piped or harped

What music can be made, or what end answered?

Wesley: 1Co 14:8 - Who will prepare himself for the battle

Unless he understand what the trumpet sounds? suppose a retreat or a march.

Wesley: 1Co 14:9 - Unless ye utter by the tongue

Which is miraculously given you.

Wesley: 1Co 14:9 - Words easy to be understood

By your hearers.

Wesley: 1Co 14:9 - Ye will speak to the air

A proverbial expression. Will utterly lose your labour.

Wesley: 1Co 14:11 - I shall be a barbarian to him

Shall seem to talk unintelligible gibberish.

Wesley: 1Co 14:13 - That he may be able to interpret

Which was a distinct gift.

Wesley: 1Co 14:14 - If I pray in an unknown tongue

The apostle, as he did at 1Co 14:6, transfers it to himself.

Wesley: 1Co 14:14 - My spirit prayeth

By the power of the Spirit I understand the words myself.

Wesley: 1Co 14:14 - But my understanding is unfruitful

The knowledge I have is no benefit to others.

Wesley: 1Co 14:15 - I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the understanding also

I will use my own understanding, as well as the power of the Spirit. I will not act so absurdly, as to utter in a congregation what can edify none but myself.

Wesley: 1Co 14:16 - Otherwise how shall he that filleth the place of a private person

That is, any private hearer.

Wesley: 1Co 14:16 - Say Amen

Assenting and confirming your words, as it was even then usual for the whole congregation to do.

Wesley: 1Co 14:19 - With my understanding

In a rational manner; so as not only to understand myself, but to be understood by others.

Wesley: 1Co 14:20 - Be not children in understanding

This is an admirable stroke of true oratory! to bring down the height of their spirits, by representing that wherein they prided themselves most, as mere folly and childishness.

Wesley: 1Co 14:20 - In wickedness be ye infants

Have all the innocence of that tender age.

Wesley: 1Co 14:20 - But in understanding be ye grown men

Knowing religion was not designed to destroy any of our natural faculties, but to exalt and improve them, our reason in particular.

Wesley: 1Co 14:21 - It is written in the Law

The word here, as frequently, means the Old Testament.

Wesley: 1Co 14:21 - In foreign tongues will I speak to this people

And so he did. He spake terribly to them by the Babylonians, when they had set at nought what he had spoken by the prophets, who used their own language. These words received a farther accomplishment on the day of pentecost. Isa 28:11.

Wesley: 1Co 14:22 - Tongues are intended for a sign to unbelievers

To engage their attention, and convince them the message is of God. Whereas prophecy is not so much for unbelievers, as for the confirmation of them that already believe.

Wesley: 1Co 14:23 - Yet

Sometimes prophecy is of more use, even to unbelievers, than speaking with tongues.

Wesley: 1Co 14:23 - For instance: If the whole church be met together

On some extraordinary occasion. It is probable, in so large a city, they ordinarily met in several places.

Wesley: 1Co 14:23 - And there come in ignorant persons

Men of learning might have understood the tongues in which they spoke. It is observable, St. Paul says here, ignorant persons or unbelievers; but in the next verse, an unbeliever or an ignorant person. Several bad men met together hinder each other by evil discourse. Single persons are more easily gained.

Wesley: 1Co 14:24 - He is convicted by all

who speak in their turns, and speak to the heart of the hearers.

Wesley: 1Co 14:24 - He is judged by all

Every one says something to which his conscience bears witness.

Wesley: 1Co 14:25 - The secrets of his heart are made manifest

Laid open, clearly described; in a manner which to him is most astonishing and utterly unaccountable. How many instances of it are seen at this day! So does God still point his word.

Wesley: 1Co 14:26 - What a thing is it, brethren

This was another disorder among them.

Wesley: 1Co 14:26 - Every one hath a psalm

That is, at the same time one begins to sing a psalm; another to deliver a doctrine; another to speak in an unknown tongue; another to declare what has been revealed to him; another to interpret what the former is speaking; every one probably gathering a little company about him, just as they did in the schools of the philosophers.

Wesley: 1Co 14:26 - Let all be done to edification

So as to profit the hearers.

Wesley: 1Co 14:27 - By two or three at most

Let not above two or three speak at one meeting.

Wesley: 1Co 14:27 - And that by course

That is, one after another.

Wesley: 1Co 14:27 - And let one interpret

Either himself, 1Co 14:13; or, if he have not the gift, some other, into the vulgar tongue. It seems, the gift of tongues was an instantaneous knowledge of a tongue till then unknown, which he that received it could afterwards speak when he thought fit, without any new miracle.

Wesley: 1Co 14:28 - Let him speak

That tongue, if he find it profitable to himself in his private devotions.

Wesley: 1Co 14:29 - Let two or three of the prophets

Not more, at one meeting.

Wesley: 1Co 14:29 - Speak

One after another, expounding the scripture.

Wesley: 1Co 14:31 - All

Who have that gift.

Wesley: 1Co 14:31 - That all may learn

Both by speaking and by hearing.

Wesley: 1Co 14:32 - For the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets

But what enthusiast considers this? The impulses of the Holy Spirit, even in men really inspired, so suit themselves to their rational faculties, as not to divest them of the government of themselves, like the heathen priests under their diabolical possession. Evil spirits threw their prophets into such ungovernable ecstasies, as forced them to speak and act like madmen. But the Spirit of God left his prophets the clear use of their judgment, when, and how long, it was fit for them to speak, and never hurried them into any improprieties either as to the matter, manner, or time of their speaking.

Wesley: 1Co 14:34 - Let your women be silent in the churches

Unless they are under an extraordinary impulse of the Spirit. For, in other cases, it is not permitted them to speak - By way of teaching in public assemblies.

Wesley: 1Co 14:34 - But to be in subjection

To the man whose proper office it is to lead and to instruct the congregation. Gen 3:16.

Wesley: 1Co 14:35 - And even if they desire to learn anything

Still they are not to speak in public, but to ask their own husbands at home - That is the place, and those the persons to inquire of.

Wesley: 1Co 14:36

Are ye of Corinth either the first or the only Christians? If not, conform herein to the custom of all the churches.

Wesley: 1Co 14:37 - Or spiritual

Endowed with any extraordinary gift of the Spirit.

Wesley: 1Co 14:37 - Let him

Prove it, by acknowledging that I now write by the Spirit.

Wesley: 1Co 14:38 - Let him be ignorant

Be it at his own peril.

Wesley: 1Co 14:39 - Therefore

To sum up the whole.

Wesley: 1Co 14:40 - Decently

By every individual.

Wesley: 1Co 14:40 - In order

By the whole church.

JFB: 1Co 14:1 - Follow after charity

As your first and chief aim, seeing that it is "the greatest" (1Co 13:13).

JFB: 1Co 14:1 - and desire

Translate, "Yet (as a secondary aim) desire zealously (see on 1Co 12:31) spiritual gifts."

JFB: 1Co 14:1 - but rather

"but chiefly that ye may prophesy" (speak and exhort under inspiration) (Pro 29:18; Act 13:1; 1Th 5:20), whether as to future events, that is, strict prophecy, or explaining obscure parts of Scripture, especially the prophetical Scriptures or illustrating and setting forth questions of Christian doctrine and practice. Our modern preaching is the successor of prophecy, but without the inspiration. Desire zealously this (prophecy) more than any other spiritual gift; or in preference to "tongues" (1Co 14:2, &c.) [BENGEL].

JFB: 1Co 14:2 - speaketh . . . unto God

Who alone understands all languages.

JFB: 1Co 14:2 - no man understandeth

Generally speaking; the few who have the gift of interpreting tongues are the exception.

JFB: 1Co 14:2 - in the spirit

As opposed to "the understanding" (1Co 14:14).

JFB: 1Co 14:2 - mysteries

Unintelligible to the hearers, exciting their wonder, rather than instructing them. Corinth, being a mart resorted to by merchants from Asia, Africa, and Europe, would give scope amidst its mixed population for the exercise of the gift of tongues; but its legitimate use was in an audience understanding the tongue of the speaker, not, as the Corinthians abused it, in mere display.

JFB: 1Co 14:3 - But

On the other hand.

JFB: 1Co 14:3 - edification

Of which the two principal species given are "exhortation" to remove sluggishness, "comfort" or consolation to remove sadness [BENGEL]. Omit "to."

JFB: 1Co 14:4 - edifieth himself

As he understands the meaning of what the particular "tongue" expresses; but "the church," that is, the congregation, does not.

JFB: 1Co 14:5

Translate, "Now I wish you all to speak with tongues (so far am I from thus speaking through having any objection to tongues), but rather IN ORDER THAT (as my ulterior and higher wish for you) ye should prophesy." Tongues must therefore mean languages, not ecstatic, unintelligible rhapsodie (as NEANDER fancied): for Paul could never "wish" for the latter in their behalf.

JFB: 1Co 14:5 - greater

Because more useful.

JFB: 1Co 14:5 - except he interpret

The unknown tongue which he speaks, "that the Church may receive edifying (building up)."

JFB: 1Co 14:6

Translate, "But now"; seeing there is no edification without interpretation.

JFB: 1Co 14:6 - revelation . . . prophesying

Corresponding one to the other; "revelation" being the supernatural unveiling of divine truths to man, "prophesying" the enunciation to men of such revelations. So "knowledge" corresponds to "doctrine," which is the gift of teaching to others our knowledge. As the former pair refers to specially revealed mysteries, so the latter pair refers to the general obvious truths of salvation, brought from the common storehouse of believers.

JFB: 1Co 14:7

Translate, "And things without life-giving sound, whether pipe or harp, YET (notwithstanding their giving sound) if they give not a distinction in the tones (that is, notes) how?" &c.

JFB: 1Co 14:7 - what is piped or harped

That is, what tune is played on the pipe or harp.

JFB: 1Co 14:8

Translate, "For if also," an additional step in the argument.

JFB: 1Co 14:8 - uncertain sound

Having no definite meaning: whereas it ought to be so marked that one succession of notes on the trumpet should summon the soldiers to attack; another, to retreat; another, to some other evolution.

JFB: 1Co 14:9 - So . . . ye

Who have life; as opposed to "things without life" (1Co 14:7).

JFB: 1Co 14:9 - by the tongue

The language which ye speak in.

JFB: 1Co 14:9 - ye shall speak

Ye will be speaking into the air, that is, in vain (1Co 9:26).

JFB: 1Co 14:10 - it may be

That is, perhaps, speaking by conjecture. "It may chance" (1Co 15:37).

JFB: 1Co 14:10 - so many

As may be enumerated by investigators of such matters. Compare "so much," used generally for a definite number left undefined (Act 5:8; also 2Sa 12:8).

JFB: 1Co 14:10 - kinds of voices

Kinds of articulate speech.

JFB: 1Co 14:10 - without signification

Without articulate voice (that is, distinct meaning). None is without its own voice, or mode of speech, distinct from the rest.

JFB: 1Co 14:11 - Therefore

Seeing that none is without meaning.

JFB: 1Co 14:11 - a barbarian

A foreigner (Act 28:2). Not in the depreciatory sense as the term is now used, but one speaking a foreign language.

JFB: 1Co 14:12 - zealous

Emulously desirous.

JFB: 1Co 14:12 - spiritual gifts

Literally, "spirits"; that is, emanations from the one Spirit.

JFB: 1Co 14:12 - seek that ye may excel to

Translate, "Seek them, that ye may abound in them to the edifying," &c.

JFB: 1Co 14:13

Explain, "Let him who speaketh with a tongue [unknown] in his prayer (or, when praying) strive that he may interpret" [ALFORD]. This explanation of "pray" is needed by its logical connection with "prayer in an unknown tongue" (1Co 14:14). Though his words be unintelligible to his hearers, let him in them pray that he may obtain the gift of interpreting, which will make them "edifying" to "the church" (1Co 14:12).

JFB: 1Co 14:14 - spirit

My higher being, the passive object of the Holy Spirit's operations, and the instrument of prayer in the unknown tongue, distinguished from the "understanding," the active instrument of thought and reasoning; which in this case must be "unfruitful" in edifying others, since the vehicle of expression is unintelligible to them. On the distinction of soul or mind and spirit, see Eph 4:23; Heb 4:12.

JFB: 1Co 14:15 - What is it then?

What is my determination thereupon?

JFB: 1Co 14:15 - and

Rather as Greek, "but"; I will not only pray with my spirit, which (1Co 14:14) might leave the understanding unedified, BUT with the understanding also [ALFORD and ELLICOTT].

JFB: 1Co 14:15 - pray with the understanding also

And, by inference, I will keep silence altogether if I cannot pray with the understanding (so as to make myself understood by others). A prescient warning, mutatis mutandis, against the Roman and Greek practice of keeping liturgies in dead languages, which long since have become unintelligible to the masses; though their forefathers spoke them at a time when those liturgies were framed for general use.

JFB: 1Co 14:16 - Else . . . thou

He changes from the first person, as he had just expressed his own resolution, "I will pray with the understanding," whatever "thou" doest.

JFB: 1Co 14:16 - bless

The highest kind of prayer.

JFB: 1Co 14:16 - occupieth the room of the unlearned

One who, whatever other gifts he may possess, yet, as wanting the gift of interpretation, is reduced by the speaking in an unknown tongue to the position of one unlearned, or "a private person."

JFB: 1Co 14:16 - say Amen

Prayer is not a vicarious duty done by others for us; as in Rome's liturgies and masses. We must join with the leader of the prayers and praises of the congregation, and say aloud our responsive "Amen" in assent, as was the usage of the Jewish (Deu 27:15-26; Neh 8:6) and Christian primitive churches [JUSTIN MARTYR, Apology, 2. 97].

JFB: 1Co 14:17 - givest thanks

The prayers of the synagogue were called "eulogies," because to each prayer was joined a thanksgiving. Hence the prayers of the Christian Church also were called blessings and giving of thanks. This illustrates Col 4:2; 1Th 5:17-18. So the Kaddisch and Keduscha, the synagogue formulæ of "hallowing" the divine "name" and of prayer for the "coming of God's kingdom," answer to the Church's Lord's Prayer, repeated often and made the foundation on which the other prayers are built [TERTULLIAN, Prayer].

JFB: 1Co 14:18 - tongues

The oldest manuscripts have the singular, "in a tongue [foreign]."

JFB: 1Co 14:19 - I had rather

The Greek verb more literally expresses this meaning, "I WISH to speak five words with my understanding (rather) than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue"; even the two thousandth part of ten thousand. The Greek for "I would rather," would be a different verb. Paul would NOT wish at all to speak "ten thousand words in an unknown tongue."

JFB: 1Co 14:20 - Brethren

An appellation calculated to conciliate their favorable reception of his exhortation.

JFB: 1Co 14:20 - children in understanding

As preference of gifts abused to nonedification would make you (compare 1Co 3:1; Mat 10:16; Rom 16:19; Eph 4:14). The Greek for "understanding" expresses the will of one's spirit, Rom 8:6 (it is not found elsewhere); as the "heart" is the will of the "soul." The same Greek is used for "minded" in Rom 8:6.

JFB: 1Co 14:20 - men

Full-grown. Be childlike, not childish.

JFB: 1Co 14:21 - In the law

As the whole Old Testament is called, being all of it the law of God. Compare the citation of the Psalms as the "law," Joh 10:34. Here the quotation is from Isa 28:11-12, where God virtually says of Israel, This people hear Me not, though I speak to. them in the language with which they are familiar; I will therefore speak to them in other tongues, namely, those of the foes whom I will send against them; but even then they will not hearken to Me; which Paul thus applies, Ye see that it is a penalty to be associated with men of a strange tongue, yet ye impose this on the Church [GROTIUS]; they who speak in foreign tongues are like "children" just "weaned from the milk" (Isa 28:9), "with stammering lips" speaking unintelligibly to the hearers, appearing ridiculous (Isa 28:14), or as babbling drunkards (Act 2:13), or madmen (1Co 14:23).

JFB: 1Co 14:22

Thus from Isaiah it appears, reasons Paul, that "tongues" (unknown and uninterpreted) are not a sign mainly intended for believers (though at the conversion of Cornelius and the Gentiles with him, tongues were vouchsafed to him and them to confirm their faith), but mainly to be a condemnation to those, the majority, who, like Israel in Isaiah's day, reject the sign and the accompanying message. Compare "yet . . . will they not hear Me" (1Co 14:21). "Sign" is often used for a condemnatory sign (Eze 4:3-4; Mat 12:39-42). Since they will not understand, they shall not understand.

JFB: 1Co 14:22 - prophesying . . . not for them that believe not, but . . . believe

That is, prophesying has no effect on them that are radically and obstinately like Israel (Isa 28:11-12), unbelievers, but on them that are either in receptivity or in fact believers; it makes believers of those not wilfully unbelievers (1Co 14:24-25; Rom 10:17), and spiritually nourishes those that already believe.

JFB: 1Co 14:23 - whole . . . all . . . tongues

The more there are assembled, and the more that speak in unknown tongues, the more will the impression be conveyed to strangers "coming in" from curiosity ("unbelievers"), or even from a better motive ("unlearned"), that the whole body of worshippers is a mob of fanatical "madmen"; and that "the Church is like the company of builders of Babel after the confusion of tongues, or like the cause tried between two deaf men before a deaf judge, celebrated in the Greek epigram" [GROTIUS].

JFB: 1Co 14:23 - unlearned

Having some degree of faith, but not gifts [BENGEL].

JFB: 1Co 14:24 - all

One by one (1Co 14:31).

JFB: 1Co 14:24 - prophesy

Speak the truth by the Spirit intelligibly, and not in unintelligible tongues.

JFB: 1Co 14:24 - one

"anyone." Here singular; implying that this effect, namely, conviction by all, would be produced on anyone, who might happen to enter. In 1Co 14:23 the plural is used; "unlearned or unbelievers"; implying that however many there might be, not one would profit by the tongues; yea, their being many would confirm them in rejecting the sign, as many unbelieving men together strengthen one another in unbelief; individuals are more easily won [BENGEL].

JFB: 1Co 14:24 - convinced

Convicted in conscience; said of the "one that believeth not" (Joh 16:8-9).

JFB: 1Co 14:24 - judged

His secret character is opened out. "Is searched into" [ALFORD]. Said of the "one unlearned" (compare 1Co 2:15).

JFB: 1Co 14:25 - And thus

Omitted in the oldest manuscripts and versions.

JFB: 1Co 14:25 - secrets of his heart made manifest

He sees his own inner character opened out by the sword of the Spirit (Heb 4:12; Jam 1:23), the word of God, in the hand of him who prophesieth. Compare the same effect produced on Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2:30 and end of Dan 2:47). No argument is stronger for the truth of religion than its manifestation of men to themselves in their true character. Hence hearers even now often think the preacher must have aimed his sermon particularly at them.

JFB: 1Co 14:25 - and so

Convicted at last, judged, and manifested to himself. Compare the effect on the woman of Samaria produced by Jesus' unfolding of her character to herself (Joh 4:19, Joh 4:29).

JFB: 1Co 14:25 - and report

To his friends at home, as the woman of Samaria did. Rather, as the Greek is, "He will worship God, announcing," that is, openly avowing then and there, "that God is in you of a truth," and by implication that the God who is in you is of a truth the God.

JFB: 1Co 14:26 - How is it then?

Rather, "What then is the true rule to be observed as to the use of gifts?" Compare 1Co 14:15, where the same Greek occurs.

JFB: 1Co 14:26 - a psalm

Extemporary, inspired by the Spirit, as that of Mary, Zechariah, Simeon, and Anna (Luk 1:46-55, Luk 1:67-79; Luk 2:34-38).

JFB: 1Co 14:26 - a doctrine

To impart and set forth to the congregation.

JFB: 1Co 14:26 - a tongue . . . a revelation

The oldest manuscripts transpose the order: "revelation . . . tongue"; "interpretation" properly following "tongue" (1Co 14:13).

JFB: 1Co 14:26 - Let all things be done unto edifying

The general rule under which this particular case fails; an answer to the question at the beginning of this verse. Each is bound to obey the ordinances of his church not adverse to Scripture. See Article XXXIV, Church of England Prayer Book.

JFB: 1Co 14:27 - let it be by two

At each time, in one assembly; not more than two or three might speak with tongues at each meeting.

JFB: 1Co 14:27 - by course

In turns.

JFB: 1Co 14:27 - let one interpret

One who has the gift of interpreting tongues; and not more than one.

JFB: 1Co 14:28 - let him

The speaker in unknown tongues.

JFB: 1Co 14:28 - speak to himself, and to God

(compare 1Co 14:2, 1Co 14:4) --privately and not in the hearing of others.

JFB: 1Co 14:29 - two or three

At one meeting (he does not add "at the most," as in 1Co 14:27, lest he should seem to "quench prophesyings," the most edifying of gifts), and these "one by one," in turn (1Co 14:27, "by course," and 1Co 14:31). Paul gives here similar rules to the prophets, as previously to those speaking in unknown tongues.

JFB: 1Co 14:29 - judge

By their power of "discerning spirits" (1Co 12:10), whether the person prophesying was really speaking under the influence of the Spirit (compare 1Co 12:3; 1Jo 4:13).

JFB: 1Co 14:30 - If any thing

Translate, "But if any thing."

JFB: 1Co 14:30 - another that sitteth by

A hearer.

JFB: 1Co 14:30 - let the first hold his peace

Let him who heretofore spoke, and who came to the assembly furnished with a previous ordinary (in those times) revelation from God (1Co 14:26), give place to him who at the assembly is moved to prophesy by a sudden revelation from the Spirit.

JFB: 1Co 14:31 - For ye may

Rather, "For ye can [if ye will] all prophesy one by one," giving way to one another. The "for" justifies the precept (1Co 14:30), "let the first hold his peace."

JFB: 1Co 14:32 - And

Following up the assertion in 1Co 14:31, "Ye can (if ye will) prophesy one by one," that is, restrain yourselves from speaking all together; "and the spirits of the prophets," that is, their own spirits, acted on by the Holy Spirit, are not so hurried away by His influence, as to cease to be under their own control; they can if they will hear others, and not demand that they alone should be heard uttering communications from God.

JFB: 1Co 14:33

In all the churches of the saints God is a God of peace; let Him not among you be supposed to be a God of confusion [ALFORD]. Compare the same argument in 1Co 11:16. LACHMANN and others put a full stop at "peace," and connect the following words thus: "As in all churches of the saints, let your women keep silence in your churches."

JFB: 1Co 14:34

(1Ti 2:11-12). For women to speak in public would be an act of independence, as if they were not subject to their husbands (compare 1Co 11:3; Eph 5:22; Tit 2:5; 1Pe 3:1). For "under obedience," translate, "in subjection" or "submission," as the Greek is translated (Eph 5:21-22, Eph 5:24).

JFB: 1Co 14:34 - the law

A term applied to the whole Old Testament; here, Gen 3:16.

JFB: 1Co 14:35

Anticipation of an objection. Women may say, "But if we do not understand something, may we not 'ask' a question publicly so as to 'learn'? Nay, replies Paul, if you want information, 'ask' not in public, but 'at home'; ask not other men, but 'your own particular (so the Greek) husbands.'"

JFB: 1Co 14:35 - shame

Indecorous.

JFB: 1Co 14:36 - What!

Greek, "Or." Are you about to obey me? Or, if you set up your judgment above that of other churches. I wish to know, do you pretend that your church is the first church FROM which the gospel word came, that you should give the law to all others? Or are you the only persons In, fro whom it has come?

JFB: 1Co 14:37 - prophet

The species.

JFB: 1Co 14:37 - spiritual

The genus: spiritually endowed. The followers of Apollos prided themselves as "spiritual" (1Co 3:1-3; compare Gal 6:1). Here one capable of discerning spirits is specially meant.

JFB: 1Co 14:37 - things that I write . . . commandments of the Lord

A direct assertion of inspiration. Paul's words as an apostle are Christ's words. Paul appeals not merely to one or two, but to a body of men, for the reality of three facts about which no body of men could possibly be mistaken: (1) that his having converted them was not due to mere eloquence, but to the "demonstration of the Spirit and of power"; (2) that part of this demonstration consisted in the communication of miraculous power, which they were then exercising so generally as to require to be corrected in the irregular employment of it; (3) that among these miraculous gifts was one which enabled the "prophet" or "spiritual person" to decide whether Paul's Epistle was Scripture or not. He could not have written so, unless the facts were notoriously true: for he takes them for granted, as consciously known by the whole body of men whom he addresses [HINDS, On Inspiration].

JFB: 1Co 14:38 - if any man be ignorant

Wilfully; not wishing to recognize these ordinances and my apostolic authority in enjoining them.

JFB: 1Co 14:38 - let him be ignorant

I leave him to his ignorance: it will be at his own peril; I feel it a waste of words to speak anything further to convince him. An argument likely to have weight with the Corinthians, who admired "knowledge" so much.

JFB: 1Co 14:39 - covet

Earnestly desire. Stronger than "forbid not"; marking how much higher he esteemed "prophecy" than "tongues."

JFB: 1Co 14:40 - Let, &c.

The oldest manuscripts read, "But let," &c. This verse is connected with 1Co 14:39, "But (while desiring prophecy, and not forbidding tongues) let all things be done decently." "Church government is the best security for Christian liberty" [J. NEWTON]. (Compare 1Co 14:23, 1Co 14:26-33).

Clarke: 1Co 14:1 - Follow after charity

Follow after charity - Most earnestly labor to be put in possession of that love which beareth, believeth, hopeth, and endureth all things. It may be difficult to acquire, and difficult to retain this blessed state, but it is essential to your present peace and eternal happiness. This clause belongs to the preceding chapter

Clarke: 1Co 14:1 - Desire spiritual gifts

Desire spiritual gifts - Ye are very intent on getting those splendid gifts which may add to your worldly consequence, and please your carnal minds - but labor rather to get the gifts of God’ s Spirit, by which ye may grow in grace, and be useful to others - and particularly desire that ye may prophesy - that ye may be able to teach and instruct others in the things of their salvation.

Clarke: 1Co 14:2 - For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue

For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue - This chapter is crowded with difficulties. It is not likely that the Holy Spirit should, in the church, suddenly inspire a man with the knowledge of some foreign language, which none in the church understood but himself; and lead him to treat the mysteries of Christianity in that language, though none in the place could profit by his teaching

Dr. Lightfoot’ s mode of reconciling these difficulties is the most likely I have met with. He supposes that by the unknown tongue the Hebrew is meant, and that God restored the true knowledge of this language when he gave the apostles the gift of tongues. As the Scriptures of the Old Testament were contained in this language, and it has beauties, energies, and depths in it which no verbal translation can reach, it was necessary, for the proper elucidation of the prophecies concerning the Messiah, and the establishment of the Christian religion, that the full meaning of the words of this sacred language should be properly understood. And it is possible that the Hebrew Scriptures were sometimes read in the Christian congregations as they were in the Jewish synagogues; and if the person who read and understood them had not the power and faculty of explaining them to others, in vain did he read and understand them himself. And we know that it is possible for a man to understand a language, the force, phraseology, and idioms of which he is incapable of explaining even in his mother tongue. We shall see, in the course of these notes, how this view of the subject will apply to the illustration of the apostle’ s words throughout the chapter

Clarke: 1Co 14:2 - Speaketh not unto men, but unto God

Speaketh not unto men, but unto God - None present understanding the language, God alone knowing the truth and import of what he says: -

Clarke: 1Co 14:2 - In the spirit he speaketh mysteries

In the spirit he speaketh mysteries - Though his own mind (for so πνευματι is understood here by many eminent critics) apprehends the mysteries contained in the words which he reads or utters; but if, by the spirit, we understand the Spirit of God, it only shows that it is by that Spirit that he is enabled to speak and apprehend these mysteries. See the note on 1Co 14:19.

Clarke: 1Co 14:3 - But he that prophesieth

But he that prophesieth - The person who has the gift of teaching is much more useful to the Church than he is who has only the gift of tongues, because he speaks to the profit of men: viz. to their edification, by the Scriptures he expounds; to their exhortation, by what he teaches; and to their comfort, by his revelation. - Whitby. I must here refer to my sermon on this text, intitled, "The Christian Prophet and his Work,"in which I have endeavored to consider the whole of this subject at large.

Clarke: 1Co 14:4 - He that speaketh in an unknown tongue

He that speaketh in an unknown tongue - In the Hebrew for instance, the knowledge of the depth and power of which he has got by a Divine revelation, edifieth himself by that knowledge

Clarke: 1Co 14:4 - But he that prophesieth

But he that prophesieth - Has the gift of preaching

Clarke: 1Co 14:4 - Edifieth the Church

Edifieth the Church - Speaketh unto men to edification, exhortation, and comfort, 1Co 14:3.

Clarke: 1Co 14:5 - I would that ye all spake with tongues

I would that ye all spake with tongues - The word θελω does not so much imply a wish or desire, as a command or permission. As if he had said: I do not restrain you to prophesying or teaching though I prefer that; but I give you full permission to speak in Hebrew whenever it is proper, and when one is present who can interpret for the edification of the Church, provided yourselves have not that gift, though you understand the language. The apostle said tongue, in the singular number, 1Co 14:2, 1Co 14:4, because he spoke of a single man; now he says tongues, in the plural number, because he speaks of many speaking; but he has the same meaning in both places. - Lightfoot

Clarke: 1Co 14:5 - Greater is he that prophesieth

Greater is he that prophesieth - A useful, zealous preacher, though unskilled in learned languages, is much greater in the sight of God, and in the eye of sound common sense, than he who has the gift of those learned tongues; except he interpret: and we seldom find great scholars good preachers. This should humble the scholar, who is too apt to be proud of his attainments, and despise his less learned but more useful brother. This judgment of St. Paul is too little regarded.

Clarke: 1Co 14:6 - Speaking with tongues

Speaking with tongues - Without interpreting

Clarke: 1Co 14:6 - What shall I profit you?

What shall I profit you? - i.e. I shall not profit you

Clarke: 1Co 14:6 - Except I shall speak to you either by revelation

Except I shall speak to you either by revelation - Of some secret thing; or by knowledge, of some mystery; or by prophesying, foretelling some future event; or by doctrine, instructing you what to believe and practice. - See Whitby. These four words are taken in different acceptations by learned men. The general sense of the terms is that given above: but the peculiar meaning of the apostle is perhaps not easily discerned.

Clarke: 1Co 14:7 - And even things without life

And even things without life - I may, as if he had said, illustrate this farther by referring to a pipe or harp; if these were to utter mere sounds without order, harmony, or melody, though every tone of music might be in the sounds, surely no person could discern a tune in such sounds, nor receive pleasure from such discords: even so is the person who speaks in an unknown tongue, but does not interpret. His speech tends no more to edification than those discordant and unmeaning sounds do to pleasure and delight.

Clarke: 1Co 14:8 - If the trumpet give an uncertain sound

If the trumpet give an uncertain sound - If, when the soldier should prepare himself for the battle, the trumpet should give a different sound to that which is ordinarily used on such occasions, the soldier is not informed of what he should do, and therefore does not arm himself; consequently, that vague, unintelligible sound of the trumpet, is of no use.

Clarke: 1Co 14:9 - Likewise ye

Likewise ye - If ye do not speak in the Church so as to be understood, your labor is useless; ye shall speak into the air - your speech will be lost and dissipated in the air, without conveying any meaning to any person: there will be a noise or sound, but nothing else. Gifts of that kind, thus used, are good for nothing.

Clarke: 1Co 14:10 - There are, it may be

There are, it may be - Ει τυχοι, For example

Clarke: 1Co 14:10 - So many kinds of voices

So many kinds of voices - So many different languages, each of which has its distinct articulation, pronunciation, emphasis, and meaning; or there may be so many different nations, each possessing a different language, etc.

Clarke: 1Co 14:11 - If I know not the meaning of the voice

If I know not the meaning of the voice - Την δυναμιν της φωνης, The power and signification of the language

Clarke: 1Co 14:11 - I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian

I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian - I shall appear to him, and he to me, as a person who had no distinct and articulate sounds which can convey any kind of meaning. This observation is very natural: when we hear persons speaking in a language of which we know nothing, we wonder how they can understand each other, as, in their speech, there appears to us no regular distinction of sounds or words. For the meaning and origin of the word barbarian, see the note on Act 28:2.

Clarke: 1Co 14:12 - For as much as ye are zealous

For as much as ye are zealous - Seeing ye affect so much to have spiritual gifts, seek that ye may get those by which ye may excel in edifying the Church.

Clarke: 1Co 14:13 - Pray that he may interpret

Pray that he may interpret - Let him who speaks or reads the prophetic declarations in the Old Testament, in that tongue in which they were originally spoken and written, pray to God that he may so understand them himself, and receive the gift of interpretation, that he may be able to explain them in all their depth and latitude to others.

Clarke: 1Co 14:14 - For if I pray in an unknown tongue

For if I pray in an unknown tongue - If my prayers are composed of sentences and sayings taken out of the prophets, etc., and in their own language - my spirit prayeth, my heart is engaged in the work, and my prayers answer all the purpose of prayers to myself; but my understanding is unfruitful to all others, because they do not understand my prayers, and I either do not or cannot interpret them. See the note on 1Co 14:19.

Clarke: 1Co 14:16 - He that occupieth the room of the unlearned

He that occupieth the room of the unlearned - One who is not acquainted with the language in which you speak, sing, or pray

Clarke: 1Co 14:16 - Say Amen

Say Amen - Give his assent and ratification to what he does not understand. It was very frequent in primitive times to express their approbation in the public assemblies by Amen. This practice, soberly and piously conducted, might still be of great use in the Church of Christ

This response was of the highest authority and merit among the Jews; they even promised the remission of all sins, the annihilation of the sentence of damnation, and the opening of the gates of paradise, to those who fervently say Amen. And it is one of their maxims that "greater is he who says Amen than he who prays."See many testimonies of this kind in Schoettgen. Now, allowing that this was of so much consequence in the time of St. Paul, it was a very serious matter for a person to be in a congregation where prayer was offered, who could not say Amen, because the prayers were in a language which he did not understand.

Clarke: 1Co 14:17 - Thou verily givest thanks well

Thou verily givest thanks well - Because he felt gratitude, and, from a sense of his obligation, gave praise to God; but because this was in an unknown tongue, those who heard him received no edification.

Clarke: 1Co 14:18 - I speak with tongues more than ye all

I speak with tongues more than ye all - He understood more languages than any of them did: and this was indispensably necessary, as he was the apostle of the Gentiles in general, and had to preach to different provinces where different dialects, if not languages, were used. In the Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, and Latin, he was undoubtedly well skilled from his education; and how many he might understand by miraculous gift we cannot tell. But, even literally understood, it is very probable that he knew more languages than any man in the Church of Corinth.

Clarke: 1Co 14:19 - Yet in the church

Yet in the church - As the grand object of public worship is the edification of those who attend, five words spoken so as to convey edification, were of much more consequence than ten thousand which, not being understood, could convey none. By the word γλωσση, tongue, to which we add unknown, I suppose the apostle always means the Hebrew, for the reasons offered in the note on 1Co 14:1

One of the greatest difficulties, says Bishop Pearce, in this epistle is contained in the words πνευμα and νους, spirit and understanding, which are frequently used in this chapter; and fixing the true meaning of these words will solve the difficulty. In this verse the apostle explains λαλειν τῳ νοΐ, to speak with the understanding, by ἱνα αλλους κατηχησω, that I might teach others; so that the sense of νους, understanding, seems to be, that understanding which the hearer has of what is said; and this sense will agree well with, I will sing with the spirit, and with the understanding, 1Co 14:15

He observes also that πνευμα spirit, and νους, understanding, have a sense opposite to each other; so that if νους is rightly rendered, the understanding which another has of what is said; then πνευμα will signify a man’ s own mind, i.e. his own understanding of what he himself speaks; and this sense agrees well with 1Co 14:2 : In the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

Clarke: 1Co 14:20 - Be not children in understanding

Be not children in understanding - There are three words here to which we must endeavor to affix the proper sense

1. παιδια signifies children in general, but particularly such as are grown up, so as to be fit to send to school in order to receive instruction

2. νηπιος, from νη, not, and ειπω, I speak, signifies an infant; one that cannot yet speak, and is in the lowest stage of infancy

3. τελειοι, from τελεω, I complete or perfect, signifies those who are arrived at perfect maturity, both of growth and understanding. We shall now see the apostle’ s meaning: Brethren, be not, παιδια, as little children, just beginning to go to school, in order to learn the first elements of their mother tongue, and with an understanding only sufficient to apprehend those elements

Clarke: 1Co 14:20 - In malice

In malice - Κακιᾳ, In wickedness, νηπιαζετε, be ye as infants, who neither speak, do, nor purpose evil

Clarke: 1Co 14:20 - But in understanding

But in understanding - Τελειοι γινεσθε, Be ye perfect men, whose vigor of body, and energy of mind show a complete growth, and a well cultivated understanding.

Clarke: 1Co 14:21 - In the law it is written

In the law it is written - But the passage quoted is in Isa 28:11. Here is no contradiction, for the term תירה torah , Law, was frequently used by the Jews to express the whole Scriptures, law, prophets, and hagiographia; and they used it to distinguish these sacred writings from the words of the scribes

Clarke: 1Co 14:21 - With men of other tongues

With men of other tongues - Bishop Pearce paraphrases this verse as follows: "With the tongues of foreigners and with the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people; and yet, for all that, will they not hear me, saith the Lord."To enter into the apostle’ s meaning we must enter into that of the prophet. The Jewish people were under the teaching of the prophets who were sent from God; these instructed, reproved, and corrected them by this Divine authority. They however became so refractory and disobedient that God purposed to cast them off, and abandon them to the Babylonians: then, they had a people to teach, correct, and reprove them, whose language they did not understand. The discipline that they received in this way was widely different from that which they received while under the teaching of the prophets and the government of God; and yet for all this they did not humble themselves before their Maker that this affliction might be removed from them.

Clarke: 1Co 14:22 - Wherefore tongues are for a sign

Wherefore tongues are for a sign - The miraculous gift of tongues was never designed for the benefit of those who have already believed, but for the instruction of unbelievers, that they might see from such a miracle that this is the work of God; and so embrace the Gospel. But as, in the times of the prophet, the strange Babylonish tongues came in the way of punishment, and not in the way of mercy; take heed that it be not the case now: that, by dwelling on the gift, ye forget the Giver; and what was designed for you as a blessing, may prove to you to be a curse. For if, because ye have the gift of tongues, ye will choose for your own aggrandizement to use them in the public congregation where none understands them, God may curse your blessings

Clarke: 1Co 14:22 - Prophesying

Prophesying - Teaching the things of God in a known language is of infinitely more consequence than speaking in all the foreign tongues in the universe.

Clarke: 1Co 14:23 - Will they not say that ye are mad?

Will they not say that ye are mad? - So they well might, finding a whole assembly of people talking languages which those who had most need of instruction could not understand.

Clarke: 1Co 14:24 - But if all prophecy

But if all prophecy - If all those who teach do it in the tongue which all understand; if an unbeliever, or one who knows nothing of the sacred language, come in and hear things just suited to his own state, he is convicted by all, and he is judged by all.

Clarke: 1Co 14:25 - And thus are the secrets of his heart

And thus are the secrets of his heart - As these, who were the prophets or teachers, had often the discernment of spirits, they were able in certain cases, and probably very frequently, to tell a man the secrets of his own heart; and, where this was not directly the case, God often led his ministers to speak those things that were suitable to the case before them, though they themselves had no particular design. The sinner, therefore, convinced that God alone could uncover the secrets of his heart, would be often obliged to fall down on his face, abashed and confounded, and acknowledge that God was truly among them. This seems to be the plain meaning of the passages before us.

Clarke: 1Co 14:26 - How is it - every one of you hath a psalm, etc.

How is it - every one of you hath a psalm, etc. - Dr. Lightfoot understands this in the following manner: When the congregation came together, some were for spending the time in psalmody; others in explaining particular doctrines; others in reading, praying, or speaking in the Hebrew tongue; others were curious to hear of farther revelations; and others wished to spend the time in the interpretation of what had already been spoken. This may be specious, but to me it is not satisfactory. It seems more likely that, when the whole Church came together, among whom there were many persons with extraordinary gifts, each of them wished to put himself forward, and occupy the time and attention of the congregation: hence confusion must necessarily take place, and perhaps not a little contention. This was contrary to that edifying which was the intention of these gifts.

Clarke: 1Co 14:27 - Speak in an unknown tongue

Speak in an unknown tongue - The Hebrew, as has already been conjectured

Clarke: 1Co 14:27 - Let it be by two; or at the most by three, and that by course

Let it be by two; or at the most by three, and that by course - Let only two or three in one assembly act in this way, that too much time may not be taken up with one exercise; and let this be done by course, the one after the other, that two may not be speaking at the same time: and let one interpret for all that shall thus speak.

Clarke: 1Co 14:28 - But if there be no interpreter

But if there be no interpreter - If there be none present who can give the proper sense of this Hebrew reading and speaking, then let him keep silence, and not occupy the time of the Church, by speaking in a language which only himself can understand.

Clarke: 1Co 14:29 - Let the prophets

Let the prophets - Those who have the gift of speaking to men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort; 1Co 14:3

Clarke: 1Co 14:29 - Two or three

Two or three - As prophesying implied psalmody, teaching, and exhortation, Dr. Lightfoot thinks that the meaning of the place is this: Let one sing who has a psalm; let another teach who has a doctrine; and let a third exhort, or comfort, who has a gift of that kind

Clarke: 1Co 14:29 - And let the other judge

And let the other judge - The other prophets, or qualified persons, judge of the propriety of what had been spoken; or let them discern, διακρινετωσαν, how the revelation under the new covenant confirmed and illustrated the revelation granted under the Old Testament. It appears to have been taken for granted, that a man might pretend to this spirit of prophecy who was not sent of God; and therefore it was the duty of the accredited teachers to examine whether what he spoke was according to truth, and the analogy of faith. For the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets; every man’ s gift was to be judged of by those whose age, experience, and wisdom, gave them a right to decide. Besides, though the person who did speak might do it from an impulse of God, yet, if he was not sufficiently known, his testimony ought to be received with caution; and therefore the aged prophets should judge of his gift, lest false doctrines should slide into the Church

But all these provisions, as Schoettgen justly observes, were in imitation of the practice in the Jewish synagogues; for there it was customary for them to object, interrogate, judge, refute, etc.

Clarke: 1Co 14:30 - Be revealed to another that sitteth by

Be revealed to another that sitteth by - Probably those who were teachers sat on a particular seat, or place, from which they might most readily address the people; and this may be the meaning of sitting by. If such a person could say, I have just received a particular revelation from God, then let him have the liberty immediately to speak it; as it might possibly relate to the circumstances of that time and place.

Clarke: 1Co 14:31 - For ye may all prophesy one by one

For ye may all prophesy one by one - The gifts which God grants are given for the purpose of edification; but there can be no edification where there is confusion; therefore let them speak one by one.

Clarke: 1Co 14:32 - And the spirits of the prophets, etc.

And the spirits of the prophets, etc. - Let no one interrupt another; and let all be ready to prefer others before themselves; and let each feel a spirit of subjection to his brethren. God grants no ungovernable gifts.

Clarke: 1Co 14:33 - For God is not the author of confusion

For God is not the author of confusion - Let not the persons who act in the congregation in this disorderly manner, say, that they are under the influence of God; for he is not the author of confusion; but two, three, or more, praying or teaching in the same place, at the same time, is confusion; and God is not the author of such work; and let men beware how they attribute such disorder to the God of order and peace. The apostle calls such conduct ακαταστασια, tumult, sedition; and such it is in the sight of God, and in the sight of all good men. How often is a work of God marred and discredited by the folly of men! for nature will always, and Satan too, mingle themselves as far as they can in the genuine work of the Spirit, in order to discredit and destroy it. Nevertheless, in great revivals of religion it is almost impossible to prevent wild - fire from getting in amongst the true fire; but it is the duty of the ministers of God to watch against and prudently check this; but if themselves encourage it, then there will be confusion and every evil work.

Clarke: 1Co 14:34 - Let your women keep silence in the churches

Let your women keep silence in the churches - This was a Jewish ordinance; women were not permitted to teach in the assemblies, or even to ask questions. The rabbins taught that "a woman should know nothing but the use of her distaff."And the sayings of Rabbi Eliezer, as delivered, Bammidbar Rabba, sec. 9, fol. 204, are both worthy of remark and of execration; they are these: ישרפו דברי תורה ואל ימסרו לנשים yisrephu dibrey torah veal yimsaru lenashim , "Let the words of the law be burned, rather than that they should be delivered to women."This was their condition till the time of the Gospel, when, according to the prediction of Joel, the Spirit of God was to be poured out on the women as well as the men, that they might prophesy, i.e. teach. And that they did prophesy or teach is evident from what the apostle says, 1Co 11:5, where he lays down rules to regulate this part of their conduct while ministering in the church

But does not what the apostle says here contradict that statement, and show that the words in chap. 11 should be understood in another sense? For, here it is expressly said that they should keep silence in the church; for it was not permitted to a woman to speak. Both places seem perfectly consistent. It is evident from the context that the apostle refers here to asking questions, and what we call dictating in the assemblies. It was permitted to any man to ask questions, to object, altercate, attempt to refute, etc., in the synagogue; but this liberty was not allowed to any woman. St. Paul confirms this in reference also to the Christian Church; he orders them to keep silence; and, if they wished to learn any thing, let them inquire of their husbands at home; because it was perfectly indecorous for women to be contending with men in public assemblies, on points of doctrine, cases of conscience, etc. But this by no means intimated that when a woman received any particular influence from God to enable her to teach, that she was not to obey that influence; on the contrary, she was to obey it, and the apostle lays down directions in chap. 11 for regulating her personal appearance when thus employed. All that the apostle opposes here is their questioning, finding fault, disputing, etc., in the Christian Church, as the Jewish men were permitted to do in their synagogues; together with the attempts to usurp any authority over the man, by setting up their judgment in opposition to them; for the apostle has in view, especially, acts of disobedience, arrogance, etc., of which no woman would be guilty who was under the influence of the Spirit of God

Clarke: 1Co 14:34 - But - to be under obedience, as also saith the law

But - to be under obedience, as also saith the law - This is a reference to Gen 3:16 : Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. From this it is evident that it was the disorderly and disobedient that the apostle had in view; and not any of those on whom God had poured out his Spirit.

Clarke: 1Co 14:35 - For it is a shame for women to speak in the church

For it is a shame for women to speak in the church - The Jews would not suffer a woman to read in the synagogue; though a servant or even a child, had this permission; but the apostle refers to irregular conduct, such conduct as proved that they were not under obedience, 1Co 14:34.

Clarke: 1Co 14:36 - Came the word of God out from you?

Came the word of God out from you? - Was it from you that other Churches received the Gospel? Are you the mother Church? that you should have rules, and orders, and customs, different from all others; and set yourselves up for a model to be copied by all the Churches of Christ

Clarke: 1Co 14:36 - Or came it unto you only?

Or came it unto you only? - Are you the only Church of God? Are there not many others founded before you that have no such customs, and permit no such disorders?

Clarke: 1Co 14:37 - If any man think himself to be a prophet, etc.

If any man think himself to be a prophet, etc. - He who is really a spiritual man, under the influence of the Spirit of God, and capable of teaching the Divine will, he will acknowledge that what I now say is from the same Spirit; and that the things which I now write are the commandments of God, and must be obeyed on pain of his displeasure.

Clarke: 1Co 14:38 - But if any man be ignorant

But if any man be ignorant - If he affect to be so, or pretend that he is ignorant; let him be ignorant - let him be so at his peril.

Clarke: 1Co 14:39 - Covet to prophesy

Covet to prophesy - Let it be your endeavor and prayer to be able to teach the way of God to the ignorant; this is the most valuable, because the most useful gift of the Spirit

Clarke: 1Co 14:39 - And forbid not to speak with tongues

And forbid not to speak with tongues - Let every gift have its own place and operation; let none envy another; nor prevent him from doing that part of the work to which God, by giving the qualification, has evidently called him.

Clarke: 1Co 14:40 - Let all things be done decently

Let all things be done decently - Ευσχημονως· In their proper forms; with becoming reverence; according to their dignity and importance, Every thing in the Church of God should be conducted with gravity and composure, suitable to the importance of the things, the infinite dignity of the object of worship, and the necessity of the souls in behalf of which those religious ordinances are instituted

Clarke: 1Co 14:40 - And in order

And in order - Κατα ταξιν· Every thing in its place, every thing in its time, and every thing suitably

Let all things be done decently and in order, is a direction of infinite moment in all the concerns of religion, and of no small consequence in all the concerns of life. How much pain, confusion, and loss would be prevented, were this rule followed! There is scarcely an embarrassment in civil or domestic life that does not originate in a neglect of this precept. No business, trade, art, or science, can be carried on to any advantage or comfort, unless peculiar attention be paid to it. And as to religion, there can be absolutely none without it. Where decency and order are not observed in every part of the worship of God, no spiritual worship can be performed. The manner of doing a thing is always of as much consequence as the act itself. And often the act derives all its consequence and utility from the manner in which it is performed.

Calvin: 1Co 14:1 - NO PHRASE

As he had previously exhorted them to follow after the more excellent gifts, (1Co 12:31,) so he exhorts them now to follow after love, ⁸⁰⁶ for that was the distinguished excellence, ⁸⁰⁷ which he had promised that he would show them. They will, therefore, regulate themselves with propriety in the use of gifts, if love prevails among them. For he tacitly reproves the want of love, as appearing in this — that they had hitherto abused their gifts, and, inferring from what goes before, that where they do not assign to love the chief place, they do not take the right road to the attainment of true excellence, he shows them how foolish their ambition is, which frustrates their hopes and desires.

1. Covet spiritual gifts. Lest the Corinthians should object that they wronged God, if they despised his gifts, the Apostle anticipates this objection by declaring, that it was not his design to draw them away even from those gifts that they had abused — nay rather he commends the pursuit of them, and wishes them to have a place in the Church. And assuredly, as they had been conferred for the advantage of the Church, man’s abuse of them ought not to give occasion for their being thrown away as useless or injurious, but in the meantime he commends prophecy above all other gifts, as it was the most useful of them all. He observes, therefore, an admirable medium, by disapproving of nothing that was useful, while at the same time he exhorts them not to prefer, by an absurd zeal, things of less consequence to what was of primary importance. Now he assigns the first place to prophecy. Covet, therefore, spiritual gifts — that is, “Neglect no gift, for I exhort you to seek after them all, provided only prophecy holds the first place.”

Calvin: 1Co 14:2 - For he that speaketh in another

2.For he that speaketh in another ⁸⁰⁸ tongue, speaketh, etc. He now shows from the effect, why it was that he preferred prophecy to other gifts, and he compares it with the gift of tongues, in which it is probable the Corinthians exercised themselves the more, because it had more of show connected with it, for when persons hear a man speaking in a foreign tongue, their admiration is commonly excited. He accordingly shows, from principles already assumed, how perverse a thing this is, inasmuch as it does not at all contribute to the edifying of the Church. He says in the outset — He that speaketh in another tongue, speaketh not unto men, but unto God: that is, according to the proverb, “He sings to himself and to the Muses.” ⁸⁰⁹ In the use of the word tongue, there is not a pleonasm, ⁸¹⁰ as in those expressions — “She spake thus with her mouth,” and “I caught the sound with these ears.” The term denotes a foreign language. The reason why he does not speak to men is — because no one heareth, that is, as an articulate voice. For all hear a sound, but they do not understand what is said.

He speaketh in the Spirit — that is, “ by a spiritual gift, (for in this way I interpret it along with Chrysostom.) He speaketh mysteries and hidden things, and things, therefore, that are of no profit.” Chrysostom understands mysteries here in a good sense, as meaning — special revelations from God. I understand the term, however, in a bad sense, as meaning — dark sayings, that are obscure and involved, as if he had said, “He speaks what no one understands.”

Calvin: 1Co 14:3 - He that prophesieth, speaketh unto men

3.He that prophesieth, speaketh unto men “Prophecy,” says he, “is profitable to all, while a foreign language is a treasure hid in the earth. What great folly, then, it is to spend all one’s time in what is useless, and, on the other hand, to neglect what appears to be most useful!” To speak to edification, is to speak what contains doctrine fitted to edify. For I understand this term to mean doctrine, by which we are trained to piety, to faith, to the worship and fear of God, and the duties of holiness and righteousness. As, however, we have for the most part need of goads, while others are pressed down by afflictions, or labor under weakness, he adds to doctrine, exhortation and consolation It appears from this passage, and from what goes before, that prophecy does not mean the gift of foretelling future events: but as I have said this once before, I do not repeat it.

Calvin: 1Co 14:4 - He that speaketh in another tongue, edifieth himself. In

4.He that speaketh in another tongue, edifieth himself. In place of what he had said before — that he speaketh unto God, he now says — he speaketh to himself But whatever is done in the Church, ought to be for the common benefit. Away, then, with that misdirected ambition, which gives occasion for the advantage of the people generally being hindered! Besides, Paul speaks by way of concession: for when ambition makes use of such empty vauntings, ⁸¹¹ there is inwardly no desire of doing good; but Paul does, in effect, order away from the common society of believers those men of mere show, who look only to themselves.

Calvin: 1Co 14:5 - I would that ye all spake with tongues // Unless he interpret

5.I would that ye all spake with tongues Again he declares that he does not give such a preference to prophecy, as not to leave some place for foreign tongues. This must be carefully observed. For God has conferred nothing upon his Church in vain, and languages were of some benefit. ⁸¹² Hence, although the Corinthians, by a misdirected eagerness for show, had rendered that gift partly useless and worthless, and partly even injurious, yet Paul, nevertheless, commends the use of tongues. So far is he from wishing them abolished or thrown away. At the present day, while a knowledge of languages is more than simply necessary, and while God has at this time, in his wonderful kindness, brought them forward from darkness into light, there are at present great theologians, who declaim against them with furious zeal. As it is certain, that the Holy Spirit has here honored the use of tongues with never-dying praise, we may very readily gather, what is the kind of spirit that actuates those reformers, ⁸¹³ who level as many reproaches as they can against the pursuit of them. At the same time the cases are very different. For Paul takes in languages of any sort — such as served merely for the publication of the gospel among all nations. They, on the other hand, condemn those languages, from which, as fountains, the pure truth of scripture is to be drawn. An exception is added — that we must not be so taken up with the use of languages, as to treat with neglect prophecy, which ought to have the first place.

Unless he interpret For if interpretation is added, there will then be prophecy. You must not, however, understand Paul to give liberty here to any one to take up the time of the Church to no profit by muttering words in a foreign tongue. For how ridiculous it were, to repeat the same thing in a variety of languages without any necessity! But it often happens, that the use of a foreign tongue is seasonable. In short, let us simply have an eye to this as our end — that edification may redound to the Church.

Calvin: 1Co 14:6 - Now, brethren, if I should come. He

6.Now, brethren, if I should come. He proposes himself as an example, because in his person the case was exhibited more strikingly ⁸¹⁴ The Corinthians experienced in themselves abundant fruit from his doctrine. He asks them, then, of what advantage it would be to them, if he were to make use of foreign languages among them. He shows them by this instance, how much better it were to apply their minds to prophesyings. Besides, it was less invidious to reprove this vice in his own person, than in that of another.

He mentions, however, four different kinds of edification — revelation, knowledge, prophesying, and doctrine As there are a variety of opinions among interpreters respecting them, let me be permitted, also, to bring forward my conjecture. As, however, it is but a conjecture, I leave my readers to judge of it. Revelation and prophesying I put in one class, and I am of opinion that the latter is the administration of the former. I am of the same opinion as to knowledge and doctrine What, therefore, any one has obtained by revelation, he dispenses by prophesying. Doctrine is the way of communicating knowledge. Thus a Prophet will be — one who interprets and administers revelation. This is rather in favor of the definition that I have given above, than at variance with it. For we have said that prophesying does not consist of a simple and bare interpretation of Scripture, but includes also knowledge for applying it to present use — which is obtained only by revelation, and the special inspiration of God.

Calvin: 1Co 14:7 - Nay even things without life

7.Nay even things without life He brings forward similitudes, first from musical instruments, and then afterwards from the nature of things generally, there being no voice that has not some peculiarity, suitable for distinction. ⁸¹⁵ “Even things without life,” says he, “instruct us.” There are, it is true, many random sounds or crashes, without any modulation, ⁸¹⁶ but Paul speaks here of voices in which there is something of art, as though he had said — “A man cannot give life to a harp or flute, but he makes it give forth a sound that is regulated in such a manner, that it can be distinguished. How absurd then it is, that even men, endowed with intelligence, should utter a confused, indistinguishable sound!”

We must not, however, enter here upon any minute discussion as to musical harmonies, inasmuch as Paul has merely taken what is commonly understood; as, for example, the sound of the trumpet, ⁸¹⁷ of which he speaks shortly afterwards; for it is so much calculated to raise the spirits, that it rouses up — not only men, but even horses. Hence it is related in historical records, that the Lacedemonians, when joining battle, preferred the use of the flute, ⁸¹⁸ lest the army should, at the first charge, rush forward upon the enemy with too keen an onset. ⁸¹⁹ In fine, we all know by experience what power music has in exciting men’s feelings, so that Plato affirms, and not without good reason, that music has very much effect in influencing, in one way or another, the manners of a state. To speak into the air is to beat the air (1Co 9:26) to no purpose. “Thy voice will not reach either God or man, but will vanish into air.”

Calvin: 1Co 14:10 - None of them dumb

10.None of them dumb ⁸²⁰ He now speaks in a more general way, for he now takes in the natural voices of animals. He uses the term dumb here, to mean confused — as opposed to an articulate voice; for the barking of dogs differs from the neighing of horses, and the roaring of lions from the braying of asses. Every kind of bird, too, has its own particular way of singing and chirping. The whole order of nature, therefore, as appointed by God, invites us to observe a distinction. ⁸²¹

Calvin: 1Co 14:11 - I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian

11.I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian ⁸²² The tongue ought to be an index of the mind — not merely in the sense of the proverb, but in the sense that is explained by Aristotle in the commencement of his book — “On Interpretation.” ⁸²³ How foolish then it is and preposterous in a man, to utter in an assembly a voice of which the hearer understands nothing — in which he perceives no token from which he may learn what the person means! It is not without good reason, therefore, that Paul views it as the height of absurdity, that a man should be a barbarian to the hearers, by chattering in an unknown tongue, and at the same time he elegantly treats with derision the foolish ambition of the Corinthians, who were eager to obtain praise and fame by this means. “This reward,” says he, “you will earn — that you will be a barbarian.” For the term barbarian, whether it be an artificial one, (as Strabo thinks, ⁸²⁴) or derived from some other origin, is taken in a bad sense. Hence the Greeks, who looked upon themselves as the only persons who were good speakers, and had a polished language, gave to all others the name of barbarians, from their rude and rustic dialect. No language, however, is so cultivated as not to be reckoned barbarous, when it is not understood. “ He that heareth,” says Paul, “ will be unto me a barbarian, and I will be so to him in return.” By these words he intimates, that to speak in an unknown tongue, is not to hold fellowship with the Church, but rather to keep aloof from it, and that he who will act this part, will be deservedly despised by others, because he first despises them.

Calvin: 1Co 14:12 - Since you are in pursuit of spiritual gifts

12.Since you are in pursuit of spiritual gifts Paul concludes that the gift of tongues has not been conferred with the view of giving occasion of boasting to a few, without yielding advantage to the Church. “If spiritual gifts,” says he, “delight you, let the end be edification. Then only may you reckon, that you have attained an excellence that is true and praiseworthy — when the Church receives advantage from you. Paul, however, does not hereby give permission to any one to cherish an ambition to excel, even to the benefit of the Church, but by correcting the fault, he shows how far short they come of what they are in pursuit of, and at the same time lets them know who they are that should be most highly esteemed. He would have a man to be held in higher estimation, in proportion as he devotes himself with eagerness to promote edification. In the meantime, it is our part to have this one object in view — that the Lord may be exalted, and that his kingdom may be, from day to day, enlarged.

The term spirits, ⁸²⁵ he employs here, by metonymy, to denote spiritual gifts, as the spirit of doctrine, or of understanding, or of judgment, is employed to denote spiritual doctrine, or understanding, or judgment. Otherwise we must keep in view what he stated previously, that it is one and the same Spirit, who distributeth to every man various gifts according to his will. (1Co 12:11.)

Calvin: 1Co 14:13 - Wherefore let him that speaketh in another tongue

13.Wherefore let him that speaketh in another tongue This is an anticipation, by way of reply to a question which might very readily be proposed to him. “If any one, therefore, is able to speak a foreign language, will the gift be useless? Why should that be kept back, which might be brought out to light, to the glory of God?” He shows the remedy. “Let him,” says he, “ask from God the gift of interpretation also. If he is without this, let him abstain in the meantime from ostentation.” ⁸²⁶

Calvin: 1Co 14:14 - For if I pray in another tongue

14.For if I pray in another tongue ⁸²⁷ While this example, too, serves to confirm what he has previously maintained, it forms, at the same time, in my opinion, an additional particular. For it is probable that the Corinthians had been in fault in this respect also, that, as they discoursed, so they also prayed in foreign tongues. At the same time, both abuses took their rise from the same source, as indeed they were comprehended under one class. What is meant by praying in a tongue, ⁸²⁸ appears from what goes before — to frame a prayer in a foreign language.

The meaning of the term spirit, however, is not so easily explained. The idea of Ambrose, who refers it to the Spirit that we receive in baptism, has not only no foundation, but has not even the appearance of it. Augustine takes it in a more refined way, as denoting that apprehension, which conceives ideas and signs of things, so that it is a faculty of the soul that is inferior to the understanding. There is more plausibility in the opinion of those who interpret it as meaning the breathing of the throat — that is, the breath. This interpretation, however, does not accord with the meaning which the term invariably bears in Paul’s discussion in this place: nay more, it appears to have been repeated the oftener by way of concession. For they gloried in that honorary distinction, which Paul, it is true, allows them, while, on the other hand, he shows how preposterous it is to abuse ⁸²⁹ a thing that is good and excellent. It is as though he had said — “Thou makest thy boast to me of spirit, but to what purpose, if it is useless?” From this consideration, I am led to agree with Chrysostom, as to the meaning of this term, who explains it, as in the previous instance, (1Co 14:12,) to mean a spiritual gift. Thus my spirit will mean — the gift conferred upon me. ⁸³⁰

But here a new question arises; for it is not credible (at least we nowhere read of it) that any spoke under the influence of the Spirit in a language that was to themselves unknown. For the gift of tongues was conferred — not for the mere purpose of uttering a sound, but, on the contrary, with the view of making a communication. For how ridiculous a thing it would be, that the tongue of a Roman should be framed by the Spirit of God to pronounce Greek words, which were altogether unknown to the speaker, as parrots, magpies, and crows, are taught to mimic human voices! If, on the other hand, the man who was endowed with the gift of tongues, did not speak without sense and understanding, Paul would have had no occasion to say, that the spirit prays, but the understanding is unfruitful, for the understanding must have been conjoined with the spirit

I answer, that Paul here, for the sake of illustration, makes a supposition, that had no reality, in this way: “If the gift of tongues be disjoined from the understanding, so that he who speaks is a barbarian to himself, as well as to others, what good would he do by babbling in this manner?” For it does not, appear that the mind is here said to be unfruitful, ( ἄκαρπον ) on the ground of no advantage accruing to the Church, inasmuch as Paul is here speaking of the private prayers of an individual. Let us therefore keep it in view, that things that are connected with each other are here disjoined for the sake of illustration — not on the ground that it either can, or usually does, so happen. The meaning is now obvious. “If, therefore, I frame prayers in a language that is not understood by me, and the spirit supplies me with words, the spirit indeed itself, which regulates my tongue, will in that case pray, but my mind will either be wandering somewhere else, or at least will have no part in the prayer.”

Let us take notice, that Paul reckons it a great fault if the mind is not occupied in prayer. And no wonder; for what else do we in prayer, but pour out our thoughts and desires before God? Farther, as prayer is the spiritual worship of God, what is more at variance with the nature of it, than that it should proceed merely from the lips, and not from the inmost soul? And these things must have been perfectly familiar to every mind, had not the devil besotted the world to such a degree, as to make men believe that they pray aright, when they merely make their lips move. So obstinate, too, are Papists in their madness, that they do not merely justify the making of prayers without understanding, but even prefer that the unlearned should mutter in unknown mumblings. ⁸³¹ Meanwhile they mock God by an acute sophism ⁸³² — that the final intention is enough, or, in other words, that it is an acceptable service to God, if a Spaniard curses God in the German language, while in his mind he is tossed with various profane cares, provided only he shall, by setting himself to his form of prayer, make up matters with God by means of a thought that quickly vanishes. ⁸³³

Calvin: 1Co 14:15 - I will pray with the spirit

15.I will pray with the spirit Lest any one should ask, by way of objection, “Will the spirit then be useless in prayer?” he teaches, that it is lawful, indeed, to pray with the spirit, provided the mind be at the same time employed, that is, the understanding He allows, therefore, and sanctions the use of a spiritual gift in prayer, but requires, what is the main thing, that the mind be not unemployed. ⁸³⁴

When he says, I will sing Psalms, or, I will sing, he makes use of a particular instance, instead of a general statement. For, as the praises of God were the subject-matter of the Psalms, he means by the singing of Psalms ⁸³⁵ — blessing God, or rendering thanks to him, for in our supplications, we either ask something from God, or we acknowledge some blessing that has been conferred upon us. From this passage, however, we at the same time infer, that the custom of singing was, even at that time, in use among believers, as appears, also, from Pliny, who, writing at least forty years, or thereabouts, after the death of Paul, mentions, that the Christians were accustomed to sing Psalms to Christ before day-break. ⁸³⁶ I have also no doubt, that, from the very first, they followed the custom of the Jewish Church in singing Psalms.

Calvin: 1Co 14:16 - Else, if thou wilt bless with the spirit

16.Else, if thou wilt bless with the spirit Hitherto he has been showing, that the prayers of every one of us will be vain and unfruitful, if the understanding does not go along with the voice. He now comes to speak of public prayers also. “If he that frames or utters forth prayers in the name of the people is not understood by the assembly, how will the common people add an expression of their desires in the close, so as to take part in them? For there is no fellowship in prayer, unless when all with one mind unite in the same desires. The same remark applies to blessing, or giving thanks to God.”

Paul’s expression, however, intimates, ⁸³⁷ that some one of the ministers uttered or pronounced prayers in a distinct voice, and that the whole assembly followed in their minds the words of that one person, until he had come to a close, and then they all said Amen — to intimate, that the prayer offered up by that one person was that of all of them in common. ⁸³⁸ It is known, that Amen is a Hebrew word, derived from the same term from which comes the word that signifies faithfulness or truth. ⁸³⁹ It is, accordingly, a token of confirmation, ⁸⁴⁰ both in alarming, and in desiring. ⁸⁴¹ Farther, as the word was, from long use, familiar among the Jews, it made its way from them to the Gentiles, and the Greeks made use of it as if it had belonged originally to their own language. Hence it came to be a term in common use among all nations. Now Paul says — “If in public prayer thou makest use of a foreign tongue, that is not understood by the unlearned and the common people among whom thou speakest, there will be no fellowship, and thy prayer or blessing will be no longer a public one.” “Why?” “No one,” says he, “ can add his Amen to thy prayer or psalm, if he does not understand it.”

Papists, on the other hand, reckon that to be a sacred and legitimate observance, which Paul so decidedly rejects. In this they discover an amazing impudence. Nay more, this is a clear token from which we learn how grievously, and with what unbridled liberty, Satan rages in the dogmas of Popery. ⁸⁴² For what can be clearer than those words of Paul — than an unlearned person cannot take any part in public prayer if he does not understand what is said? What can be plainer than this prohibition — “let not prayers or thanksgivings be offered up in public, except in the vernacular tongue.” In doing every day, what Paul says should not, or even cannot, be done, do they not reckon him to be illiterate ? In observing with the utmost strictness what he forbids, do they not deliberately contemn God? We see, then, how Satan sports among them with impunity. Their diabolical obstinacy shows itself in this — that, when admonished, they are so far from repenting, that they defend this gross abuse by fire and sword.

Calvin: 1Co 14:18 - I thank,

18.I thank, etc. As there are many that detract from another’s excellencies, in which they cannot themselves have distinction, Paul, that he might not seem to depreciate, through malignity or envy, the gift of tongues, anticipates that suspicion, by showing that he is, in this respect, superior to them all. “See,” says he, “how little occasion you have to suspect the design of my discourse, as if I depreciated what I myself lacked; for if we were to contend as to tongues, there is not one of you that could bear comparison with me. While, however, I might display myself to advantage in this department., I am more concerned for edification.” Paul’s doctrine derives no small weight from the circumstance, that he has not an eye to himself. Lest, however, he should appear excessively arrogant, in preferring himself before all others, he ascribes it all to God. Thus he tempers his boasting with modesty.

Calvin: 1Co 14:19 - I would rather speak five words

19.I would rather speak five words This is spoken hyperbolically, unless you understand five words, as meaning five sentences. Now as Paul, who might otherwise have exulted loftily in his power of speaking with tongues, voluntarily abstains from it, and, without any show, aims at edification exclusively, he reproves, by this means, the empty ambition of those, that are eagerly desirous to show themselves off with empty tinkling. (1Co 13:1.) The authority of the Apostle ought, also, to have no little weight in drawing them off from vanity of this kind.

Calvin: 1Co 14:20 - Brethren, be not children in understanding

20.Brethren, be not children in understanding He proceeds a step farther; for he shows that the Corinthians are so infatuated, that they, of their own accord. draw down upon themselves, and eagerly desire, as though it were a singular benefit, what the Lord threatens that he will send, when he designs to inflict upon his people the severest punishment. What dreadful madness is this — to pursue eagerly with their whole desire, what, in the sight of God, is regarded as a curse! That we may, however, understand more accurately Paul’s meaning, we must, observe, that this statement is grounded on the testimony of Isaiah, which he immediately afterwards subjoins. (Isa 28:11.) And as interpreters have been misled, from not observing the connection to be of this nature, to prevent all mistake, we shall first explain the passage in Isaiah, and then we shall come to Paul’s words.

In that chapter the Prophet, inveighs with severity against the ten tribes, which had abandoned themselves to every kind of wickedness. The only consolation is, that God had still a people uncorrupted in the tribe of Judah; but straightway he deplores the corruption of that tribe also; and he does so the more sharply, because there was no hope of amendment. For thus he speaks in the name of God — Whom shall I teach knowledge? those that are weaned from their mother? those that are drawn from the breasts By this he means, that they are no more capable of instruction than little children but lately weaned.

It is added — Precept upon precept, instruction upon instruction, charge upon charge, direction upon direction, here a little, and there a little In these words he expresses, in the style of a mimic, ⁸⁴³ the slowness and carelessness by which they were kept back. “In teaching them, I lose my labor, for they make no progress, because they are beyond measure uncultivated, and what they had been taught by means of long-continued labor, they in a single moment forget.”

It is added still farther — He that speaketh to that people is like one that maketh use of stammering lips, and a foreign language This is the passage that Paul quotes. Now the meaning is, ⁸⁴⁴ that the people have been visited with such blindness and madness, that they no more understand God when speaking to them, than they would some barbarian or foreigner, stammering in an unknown tongue — which is a dreadful curse. He has not, however, quoted the Prophet’s words with exactness, because he reckoned it enough to make a pointed reference to the passage, that the Corinthians, on being admonished, might attentively consider it. As to his saying that it was written in the law, ⁸⁴⁵ this is not at variance with common usage; for the Prophets had not a ministry distinct from the law, but were the interpreters of the law, and their doctrine is, as it were, a sort of appendage to it; hence the law included the whole body of Scripture, up to the advent of Christ. Now Paul from this infers as follows — “Brethren, it is necessary to guard against that childishness, which is so severely reproved by the Prophet — that the word of God sounds in your ears without any fruit. Now, when you reject prophecy, which is placed within your reach, and prefer to stand amazed at empty sound, is not this voluntarily to incur the curse of God? ⁸⁴⁶

Farther, lest the Corinthians should say in reply, that to be spiritually children, is elsewhere commended, (Mat 18:4,) Paul anticipates this objection, and exhorts them, indeed, to be children in malice, but to beware of being children in understanding Hence we infer how shameless a part those act, who make Christian simplicity consist in ignorance. Paul would have all believers to be, as far as possible, in full maturity as to understanding The Pope, inasmuch as it is easier to govern asses than men, gives orders, under pretext of simplicity, that all under him shall remain uninstructed. ⁸⁴⁷ Let us from this draw a comparison between the dominion of Popery, and the institution of Christ, and see how far they agree. ⁸⁴⁸

Calvin: 1Co 14:22 - Therefore tongues are for a sign

22.Therefore tongues are for a sign This passage may be explained in two ways, by considering the word therefore as referring merely to the preceding sentence, or as having a bearing generally on the whole of the foregoing discussion. If it is a particular inference, the meaning will be — “ You see, brethren, that what you so eagerly desire is not a blessing bestowed by God upon believers, but a punishment, by which he inflicts vengeance upon unbelievers.” In this way, Paul would not be viewed as taking in the use of tongues under all circumstances, but simply as touching upon what had in one instance occurred. Should any one, however, prefer to extend it to the whole discussion, I have no objection, though I do not dislike the former interpretation.

Taking it in a general way, the meaning will be “Tongues, in so far as they are given for a sign — that is, for a miracle — are appointed not properly for believers, but for unbelievers.” The advantages derived from tongues were various. They provided against necessity — that diversity of tongues might not prevent the Apostles from disseminating the gospel over the whole world: there was, consequently, no nation with which they could not hold fellowship. They served also to move or terrify unbelievers by the sight of a miracle — for the design of this miracle, equally with others, was to prepare those who were as yet at a distance from Christ for rendering obedience to him. Believers, who had already devoted themselves to his doctrine, did not stand so much in need of such preparation. Hence, the Corinthians brought forward that gift improperly and out of its right place, allowing prophecy in the meantime to be neglected, which was peculiarly and specially set apart for believers, and ought, therefore, to be familiar to them, for in tongues they looked to nothing farther than the miracle.

Calvin: 1Co 14:23 - If therefore the whole Church come together

23.If therefore the whole Church come together As they did not see their fault, in consequence of having their minds pre-occupied with a foolish and depraved desire, he tells them that they will be exposed to the scorn of the wicked or the unlearned, if any, on coming into their assembly, should hear them uttering a sound, but not speaking. For what unlearned person will not reckon those to be out of their right mind, who, in place of speech, utter empty sound, and are taken up with that vanity, while they were gathered together for the purpose of hearing the doctrine of God? This statement has much that is cutting: “You applaud yourselves in your own sleeve; but the wicked and the unlearned laugh at your fooleries. You do not, therefore, see what to the unlearned and unbelieving is perfectly manifest.”

Here Chrysostom starts a question’ “If tongues were given to unbelievers for a sign, why does the Apostle say now, that they will be derided by them?” He answers, that they are for a sign to fill them with astonishment — not to instruct them, or to reform them. At the same time he adds, that it is owing to their wickedness, that they look upon the sign as madness. This explanation does not satisfy me; for however an unbeliever or unlearned person may be affected by a miracle, and may regard with reverence the gift of God, he does not cease on that account to deride and condemn an unseasonable abuse of the gift, ⁸⁴⁹ and think thus with himself: “What do these men mean, by wearying out themselves and others to no purpose? Of what avail is their speaking, if nothing is to be learned from it?” Paul’s meaning, therefore, is — that the Corinthians would be justly convicted of madness by the unbelieving and unlearned, however much they might please themselves. ⁸⁵⁰

Calvin: 1Co 14:24 - But if all prophesy // We

24.But if all prophesy As he had previously showed them, how much more advantageous prophecy is to those that are of the household of faith (Gal 6:10) than the gift of tongues, so he now shows that it would be useful also to those that are without. (1Co 5:13.) This is a most powerful consideration for showing the Corinthians their error. For what a base part it is to depreciate a gift that is most useful both within and without, and to be wholly taken up with another gift which is useless to those that are within the house; and, in addition to this, gives occasion of offense to those that are without. He sets before them this advantage of prophecy, that it summons the consciences of the wicked to the tribunal of God, and strikes them with a lively apprehension of divine judgment in such a manner, that he who before in utter regardlessness despised sound doctrine, is constrained to give glory to God.

We shall find it, however, much easier to understand this passage, if we compare it with another that occurs in the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 4:12.)

The Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword; piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow — a discerner of the thoughts of the heart. ⁸⁵¹

For in both passages, it is the same kind of efficacy of the Word of God that is spoken of: only in that other passage it is spoken of more fully and distinctly. So far as the passage before us is concerned, it is not difficult to understand now, what is meant by being convinced and judged. The consciences of men are in a torpid state, ⁸⁵² and are not touched with any feeling of dissatisfaction on account of their sins, so long as they are enveloped in the darkness of ignorance. In short, unbelief is like a lethargy that takes away feeling. But the Word of God penetrates even to the farthest recesses of the mind, and by introducing, as it were, a light, dispels darkness, and drives away that deadly torpor. Thus, then, unbelievers are convinced, inasmuch as they are seriously affected and alarmed, on coming to know that they have to do with God; and, in like manner, they are judged in this respect, that whereas they were previously involved in darkness, and did not perceive their own wretchedness and baseness, they are now brought into the light of day, and are constrained to bear witness against themselves.

When he says, that they are judged and convinced by all, you must understand him as meaning all that prophesy; for he had said a little before, If ye all prophesy, (1Co 14:24.) He has expressly made use of a general term, with the view of removing the dislike that they felt for prophecy. ⁸⁵³ The unbeliever, I say, is convinced — not as if the Prophet pronounced a judgment upon him either silently in the mind, or openly with the mouth, but because the conscience of the hearer apprehends from the doctrine his own judgment. He is judged, inasmuch as he descends into himself, and, after thorough examination, comes to know himself, while previously he was unmindful of himself. To the same purpose, too, is that saying of Christ:

The Spirit, when he is come, will convince the world of sin,
(Joh 16:8;)

and this is what he immediately adds — that the secrets of his heart are made manifest For he does not mean, in my opinion, that it becomes manifest to others what sort of person he is, but rather that his own conscience is aroused, so that he perceives his sins, which previously lay hid from his view.

Here again Chrysostom asks, how it comes to pass that prophecy is so effectual for arousing unbelievers, while Paul had said a little before that it was not given to them. He answers, that it was not given to them as a useless sign, but for the purpose of instructing them. For my part, however, I think that it will be simpler, and therefore more suitable, to say that it was not given to unbelievers, who perish, whose hearts

Satan has blinded, that they may not see the light which shines forth from it.
(2Co 4:3.)

It will also suit better to connect this statement with the prophecy ⁸⁵⁴ of Isaiah (Isa 28:11,) because the Prophet speaks of unbelievers, among whom prophecy is of no profit or advantage.

Calvin: 1Co 14:25 - Falling down on his face, he will worship

25.Falling down on his face, he will worship For it is only the knowledge of God that can bring down the pride of the flesh. To that, prophecy brings us. Hence, it is its proper effect and nature to bring down men from their loftiness, that they may, with prostrate homage, render worship to God. To many, however, prophecy also is of no benefit — nay more, they are made worse by what they hear. Nor was it even Paul’s intention to ascribe this effect to prophecy, as if it were always the result of it. He simply designed to show how much advantage is derived from it, and what is its office. It is therefore a singular commendation, that it extorts from unbelievers this confession — that God is present with his people, and that his majesty shines forth in the midst of their assembly.

Calvin: 1Co 14:26 - What is it then?

26.What is it then? He now shows the way in which they may remedy those evils. In the first place, each gift must have its place, but in order and in measure. Farther, the Church must not be taken up to no purpose with unprofitable exercises, but must, in whatever is done, have an eye to edification. He speaks, however, in the first place of edification in this way: “Let every one, according as he has been endowed with some particular gift, make it his aim to lay it out for the advantage of all.” For it is in this way that we must understand the word rendered every one — that no one may take it as implying universality, as though all to a man were endowed with some such gift.

Calvin: 1Co 14:27 - If any one speak in another tongue

27.If any one speak in another tongue He now describes the order and limits the measure. “If you have a mind to speak with other tongues, let only two speak, or, at most, not more than three, and let there be at the same time an interpreter sitting by Without an interpreter, tongues are of no advantage: let them, therefore be dispensed with.” It is to be observed, however, that he does not command, but merely permits; for the Church can, without any inconvenience, dispense with tongues, except in so far as they are helps to prophecy, as the Hebrew and Greek languages are at this day. Paul, however, makes this concession, that he may not seem to deprive the assembly of believers of any gift of the Spirit.

At the same time, it might seem as if even this were not agreeable to reason, inasmuch as he said before, (1Co 14:22,) that tongues, in so far as they are for a sign, are suited to unbelievers. I answer, that, while a miracle may be performed more particularly with a view to unbelievers, it, nevertheless, does not follow, that it may not be of some advantage to believers also. If you understand, that an unknown tongue is a sign to unbelievers in the sense that Isaiah’s words ⁸⁵⁷ bear, the method of procedure, which Paul here prescribes, is different. For he allows of other tongues in such a way that, interpretation being joined with them, nothing is left obscure. He observes, therefore, a most admirable medium in correcting the fault of the Corinthians. On the one hand, he does not at all set aside any gift of God whatever, ⁸⁵⁸ in order that all his benefits may be seen among believers. On the other hand he makes a limitation — that ambition do not usurp the place that is due to the glory of God, and that no gift of inferior importance stand in the way of those that are of chief moment; and he adds the sauce ⁸⁵⁹ — that there be no mere ostentation, devoid of advantage.

Calvin: 1Co 14:28 - Let him speak to himself and to God

28.Let him speak to himself and to God “Let him enjoy,” says he, “his gift in his own conscience, and let him give thanks to God.” For in this way I explain the expression to speak to himself and to God, as meaning — to recognize in his own mind with thanksgiving the favor conferred upon him, ⁸⁶⁰ and to enjoy it as his own, when there is not an opportunity for bringing it forward in a public manner. For he draws a contrast between this secret way of speaking, and speaking publicly in the Church — which he forbids. ⁸⁶¹

Calvin: 1Co 14:29 - Prophets, two or three // Let the others judge

29.Prophets, two or three As to prophecy, too, he prescribes limits, because “multitude,” as they commonly say, “breeds confusion.” This is true, for we know it by every day’s experience. He does not, however, restrict the number so definitely, as when he was treating of tongues, for there is less danger, in the event of their applying themselves for a longer time to prophesyings, nay more, continued application would be the most desirable thing of all; but Paul considered what the weakness of men could bear.

There still remains, however, a question — why it is that he assigns the like number to prophesyings and to tongues, except that, as to the latter, he adds particularly — at the most, for if tongues are less useful, there ought assuredly to be a more sparing use of them? I answer, that even in tongues, as he takes the term, prophecy is included; for tongues were made use of either for discourses, ⁸⁶² or for prayers. In the former department, the interpreter was in the place of the prophet: thus it was the principal and more frequent exercise of it. Only he limits the measure of it, lest it should fall into contempt through a feeling of disgust, and lest those who were less skillful should prevent those that were better qualified from having time and opportunity of speaking; for he would, undoubtedly, have those to whom he assigns the duty of speaking, to be of the more select class, and appointed by their common suffrages. ⁸⁶³ None, however, are more inclined to push themselves forward, than those who have but a slight smattering of learning, so that the proverb holds good, “Ignorance is pert.” ⁸⁶⁴ Paul had it in view to remedy this evil, by assigning the office of speaking to two or three

Let the others judge. Lest he should give any occasion to the others to complain — as though he were desirous that the gift of God ⁸⁶⁵ should be suppressed among them and buried, he shows in what way they may lawfully make use of it for the benefit of the Church, even by keeping silence — if they set themselves to judge of what is said by others. For it is of no small advantage, that there should be some that are skillful in judging, who will not allow sound doctrine to be perverted by the impostures of Satan, or to be otherwise corrupted by silly trifles. Paul, accordingly, teaches that the other prophets will be useful to the Church, even by keeping silence.

It may seem, however, to be absurd that men should have liberty given them to judge of the doctrine of God, which ought to be placed beyond all controversy. I answer, that the doctrine of God is not subjected to the scrutiny of men, but there is simply permission given them to judge by the Spirit of God, whether it is his word that is set before them, or whether human inventions are, without any authority, set off under this pretext, as we shall have occasion to notice again ere long.

Calvin: 1Co 14:30 - But if anything be revealed to another

30.But if anything be revealed to another. Here is another advantage — that whenever there will be occasion, the way will also be open to them. ⁸⁶⁶ Hence they have no longer any occasion to complain, that the Spirit is bound, or that his mouth is shut. For all have opportunity and liberty allowed them of speaking, when there is occasion for it, provided only no one unseasonably intrudes — having it in view to please himself, rather than to serve some useful purpose. Now he requires this modesty on the part of all — that every one in his place shall give way to another that has something better to bring forward. ⁸⁶⁷ For this only is the true liberty of the Spirit — not that every one be allowed to blab out rashly whatever he pleases, but that all, from the highest to the lowest, voluntarily allow themselves to be under control, and that the one Spirit be listened to, by whatever mouth he speaks. As to the certainty of the revelation, we shall see ere long.

Calvin: 1Co 14:31 - You can all, one by one

31.You can all, one by one In the first place, when he says all, he does not include believers universally, but only those that were endowed with this gift. Farther, he does not mean that all ought to have equally their turn, but that, according as it might be for the advantage of the people, each one should come forward to speak either more frequently or more seldom. ⁸⁶⁸ “No one will remain always unemployed; but an opportunity of speaking will present itself, sometimes to one and at other times to another.”

He adds, that all may learn. This is applicable, it is true, to the whole of the people, but it is particularly suited to the Prophets, and Paul more especially refers to them. For no one will ever be a good teacher, who does not show himself to be teachable, as no one will ever be found who has, in himself alone, such an overflowing in respect of perfection of doctrine, as not to derive benefit from listening to others. Let all, therefore, undertake the office of teaching on this principle, that they do not refuse or grudge, to be scholars to each other in their turn, whenever there shall be afforded to others the means of edifying the Church.

He says, in the second place, that all may receive consolation. Hence we may infer, that the ministers of Christ, so far from envying, should rather rejoice with all their heart, that they are not the only persons that excel, but have fellow-partakers of the same gift — a disposition which Moses discovered, as is related in sacred history. (Num 11:28.) For when his servant, inflamed with a foolish jealousy, was greatly displeased, because the gift of prophecy was conferred upon others also, he reproves him: “Nay,” says he, “would that all the people of God were sharers with me in this superior gift!” And, undoubtedly, it is a special consolation for pious ministers, to see the Spirit of God, whose instruments they are, working in others also, and they derive also from this no small confirmation. It is a consolation, too, that it contributes to the spread of the word of God, the more it has of ministers and witnesses.

As, however, the word παρακαλεῖσθαι, which Paul here employs, is of doubtful signification, ⁸⁶⁹ it might also be rendered may receive exhortation. ⁸⁷⁰ Nor would this be unsuitable, for it is sometimes of advantage to listen to others, that we may be more powerfully stirred up to duty.

Calvin: 1Co 14:32 - And the spirits of the Prophets

32.And the spirits of the Prophets. This, too, is one of the reasons, why it is necessary for them to take turns — because it will sometimes happen that, in the doctrine of one Prophet, the others may find something to reprove. “It is not reasonable,” says he, “that any one should be beyond the sphere of scrutiny. In this way it will sometimes come to a person’s turn to speak, who was among the audience and was sitting silent.”

This passage has been misunderstood by some, as if Paul had said, that the Lord’s Prophets were not like persons taken with a sudden frenzy, who, when a divine impulse (ἐνθουσιασμὸς) had once seized them, ⁸⁷¹ were no longer masters of themselves. ⁸⁷² It is indeed true that God’s Prophets are not disordered in mind; but this has nothing to do with this passage of Paul’s writings. For it means, as I have already stated, that no one is exempted from the scrutiny of others, but that all must be listened to, with this understanding, that their doctrine is, nevertheless, to be subjected to examination. It is not, however, without difficulty, for the Apostle declares that their spirits are subject. Though it is of gifts that he speaks, how can prophecy, which is given by the Holy Spirit, be judged of by men, so that the Spirit himself is not judged by them? In this manner, even the word of God, which is revealed by the Spirit; will be subjected to examination. The unseemliness of this needs not be pointed out, for it is of itself abundantly evident. I maintain, however, that neither the Spirit of God nor his word is restrained by a scrutiny of this kind. The Holy Spirit, I say, retains his majesty unimpaired, so as to

judge all things, while he is judged by no one.
(1Co 2:15.)

The sacred word of God, too, retains the respect due to it, so that it is received without any disputation, as soon as it is presented.

“What is it, then,” you will say, “that is subjected to examination?”’ I answer — If any one were furnished with a full revelation, that man would undoubtedly, along with his gift, be above all scrutiny. There is, I say, no subjection, where there is a plenitude of revelation; but as God has distributed his spirit to every one in a certain measure, in such a way that, even amidst the greatest abundance, there is always something wanting, it is not to be wondered, if no one is elevated to such a height, as to look down from aloft upon all others, and have no one to pass judgment upon him. We may now see how it is, that, without any dishonor to the Holy Spirit, his gifts admit of being examined. Nay more, where, after full examination, nothing is found that is worthy of reproof, there will still be something, that stands in need of polishing. The sum of all, therefore, is this — that the gift is subjected to examination in such a way, that whatever is set forth, the Prophets consider as to it — whether it has proceeded from the Spirit of God; for if it shall appear that the Spirit is the author of it, there is no room left for hesitation.

It is, however still farther asked — “What rule is to be made use of in examining?” This question is answered in part by the mouth of Paul, who, in Rom 12:6, requires that prophecy be regulated according to the proportion of faith. As to the passing of judgment, however, there is no doubt, that it ought to be regulated by the word and Spirit of God — that nothing may be approved of, but what is discovered to be from God — that nothing may be found fault with but in accordance with his word — in fine, that God alone may preside in this judgment, and that men may be merely his heralds.

From this passage of Paul’s writings, we may conjecture how very illustrious that Church was, in respect of an extraordinary abundance and variety of spiritual gifts. There were colleges of Prophets, so that pains had to be taken, that they might have their respective turns. There was so great a diversity of gifts, that there was a superabundance. We now see our leanness, nay, our poverty; but in this we have a just punishment, sent to requite our ingratitude. For neither are the riches of God exhausted, nor is his benignity lessened; but we are neither deserving of his bounty, nor capable of receiving his liberality. Still we have an ample sufficiency of light and doctrine, provided there were no deficiency in respect of the cultivation of piety, and the fruits that spring from it.

Calvin: 1Co 14:33 - For God is not of confusion // As in all the Churches

33.For God is not of confusion ⁸⁷³ We must understand the word Author, or some term of that kind. ⁸⁷⁴ Here we have a most valuable statement, by which we are taught, that we do not serve God unless in the event of our being lovers of peace, and eager to promote it. Whenever, therefore, there is a disposition to quarrel, there, it is certain, God does not reign. And how easy it is to say this! How very generally all have it in their mouths! Yet, in the meantime, the most of persons fly into a rage about nothing, or they trouble the Church, from a desire that they may, by some means, rise into view, and may seem to be somewhat. (Gal 2:6.)

Let us, therefore, bear in mind, that, in judging as to the servants of Christ, this mark must be kept in view — whether or not they aim at peace and concord, and, by conducting themselves peaceably, avoid contentions to the utmost of their power, provided, however, we understand by this a peace of which the truth of God is the bond. For if we are called to contend against wicked doctrines, even though heaven and earth should come together, we must, nevertheless, persevere in the contest. We must, indeed, in the first place, make it our aim, that the truth of God may, without contention, maintain its ground; but if the wicked resist, we must set our face against them, and have no fear, lest the blame of the disturbances should be laid to our charge. For accursed is that peace of which revolt from God is the bond, and blessed are those contentions by which it is neces sary to maintain the kingdom of Christ.

As in all the Churches The comparison ⁸⁷⁵ does not refer merely to what was said immediately before, but to the whole of the foregoing representation. “I have hitherto enjoined upon you nothing that is not observed in all the Churches, and, in this manner, they are maintained in peace. Let it be your care, therefore, to borrow, what other Churches have found by experience to be salutary, and most profitable for maintaining peace.” His explicit mention of the term saints is emphatic — as if with the view of exempting rightly constituted Churches from a mark of disgrace. ⁸⁷⁶

Calvin: 1Co 14:34 - Let them be in subjection, as also saith the law

It appears that the Church of the Corinthians was infected with this fault too, that the talkativeness of women was allowed a place in the sacred assembly, or rather that the fullest liberty was given to it. Hence he forbids them to speak in public, either for the purpose of teaching or of prophesying. This, however, we must understand as referring to ordinary service, or where there is a Church in a regularly constituted state; for a necessity may occur of such a nature as to require that a woman should speak in public; but Paul has merely in view what is becoming in a duly regulated assembly.

34.Let them be in subjection, as also saith the law What connection has the object that he has in view with the subjection under which the law places women? “For what is there,” some one will say, “to hinder their being in subjection, and yet at the same time teaching?” I answer, that the office of teaching ⁸⁷⁷ is a superiority in the Church, and is, consequently, inconsistent with subjection. For how unseemly a thing it were, that one who is under subjection to one of the members, should preside ⁸⁷⁸ over the entire body! It is therefore an argument from things inconsistent — If the woman is under subjection, she is, consequently, prohibited from authority to teach in public. ⁸⁷⁹ And unquestionably, ⁸⁸⁰ wherever even natural propriety has been maintained, women have in all ages been excluded from the public management of affairs. It is the dictate of common sense, that female government is improper and unseemly. Nay more, while originally they had permission given to them at Rome to plead before a court, ⁸⁸¹ the effrontery of Caia Afrania ⁸⁸² led to their being interdicted, even from this. Paul’s reasoning, however, is simple — that authority to teach is not suitable to the station that a woman occupies, because, if she teaches, she presides over all the men, while it becomes her to be under subjection.

Calvin: 1Co 14:35 - If they wish to learn any thing

35.If they wish to learn any thing That he may not seem, by this means, to shut out women from opportunities of learning, he desires them, if they are in doubt as to anything, to inquire in private, that they may not stir up any disputation in public. When he says, husbands, he does not prohibit them from consulting the Prophets themselves, if necessary. For all husbands are not competent to give an answer in such a case; but, as he is reasoning here as to external polity, he reckons it sufficient to point out what is unseemly, that the Corinthians may guard against it. In the meantime, it is the part of the prudent reader to consider, that the things of which he here treats are intermediate and indifferent, in which there is nothing unlawful, but what is at variance with propriety and edification.

Calvin: 1Co 14:36 - Did the word of God come out from you?

36.Did the word of God come out from you? This is a somewhat sharper reproof, but nothing more than was needful for beating down the haughtiness of the Corinthians. They were, beyond measure, self-complacent. They could not endure that either themselves, or what belonged to them, should be found fault with in anything. He asks, accordingly, whether they are the only Christians in the world; nay, farther, whether they are the first, or are to be the last? “Did the word of God,” says he, “come out from you?” that is, “Did it originate with you ?” “Has it ended with you?” that is, “Will it spread no farther ?” The design of the admonition is this — that they may not, without having any regard to others, please themselves in their own contrivances or customs. And this is a doctrine of general application; for no Church should be taken up with itself exclusively, to the neglect of others; but on the contrary, they ought all, in their turn, to hold out the right hand to each other, in the way of cherishing mutual fellowship, and accommodating themselves to each other, in so far as a regard to harmony requires. ⁸⁸³

But here it is asked, whether every Church, according as it has had the precedence of another in the order of time, ⁸⁸⁴ has it also in its power to bind it to observe its institutions. ⁸⁸⁵ For Paul seems to intimate this in what he says. For example, Jerusalem was the mother of all the Churches, inasmuch as the word of the Lord had come out from it Was she then at liberty to assume to herself a superior right, so as to bind all others to follow her? I answer, that Paul here does not employ an argument of universal application, but one that was specially applicable to the Corinthians, as is frequently the case. He had, therefore, an eye to individuals, rather than to the thing itself. Hence it does not necessarily follow, that Churches that are of later origin must be bound to observe, in every point, the institutions of the earlier ones, inasmuch as even Paul himself did not bind himself by this rule, so as to obtrude upon other Churches the customs that were in use at Jerusalem. Let there be nothing of ambition — let there be nothing of obstinacy — let there be nothing of pride and contempt for other Churches — let there be, on the other hand, a desire to edify — let there be moderation and prudence; and in that case, amidst a diversity of observances, there will be nothing that is worthy of reproof.

Let us, therefore, bear in mind, that the haughtiness of the Corinthians is here reproved, who, concerned for themselves exclusively, ⁸⁸⁶ showed no respect to the Churches of earlier origin, from which they had received the gospel, and did not endeavor to accommodate themselves to other Churches, to which the gospel had flowed out from them. Would to God that there were no Corinth in our times, in respect of this fault, as well as of others! But we see how savage men, who have never tasted the gospel, (Heb 6:5,) trouble the Churches of the saints by a tyrannical enforcement of their own laws. ⁸⁸⁷

Calvin: 1Co 14:37 - If any one thinks himself

37.If any one thinks himself Mark here the judgment, which he had previously assigned to the Prophets — that they should receive what they recognised as being from God. He does not, however, desire them to inquire as to his doctrine, as though it were a doubtful matter, but to receive it as the sure word of God, inasmuch as they will recognize it as the word of God, if they judge rightly. Farther, it is in virtue of apostolical authority, that he takes it upon himself to prescribe to them the sentence which they ought to pronounce. ⁸⁸⁸

There is still greater confidence in what he immediately adds — He that is ignorant, let him be ignorant. This, it is true, was allowable for Paul, who was fully assured as to the revelation that he had received from God, and he ought also to have been well known to the Corinthians, so that they should have looked upon him in no other light, than as an Apostle of the Lord. It is not, however, for every one to advance such a claim for himself, or if he does, he will, by his boasting, throw himself open to merited derision, for then only is there ground for such confidence, when what is affirmed with the mouth shows itself in reality. It was with truth that Paul affirmed, that his precepts were those of the Lord. Many will be prepared to pretend the same thing on false grounds. His great object is this — that it may be clearly perceived, that he who does not allow himself to be under control, speaks as from the Holy Spirit, not from his own brain. That man, therefore, who is no other than a pure organ of the Holy Spirit, will have the courage to declare fearlessly with Paul, that those who shall reject his doctrine, are not Prophets or spiritual persons; and this he will do in virtue of a right that belongs to him, in accordance with what we had in the beginning of the Epistle — he that is spiritual, judgeth all things. (1Co 2:15.)

But it may be asked here, how it is that Paul declares those things to be commandments of the Lord, as to which no statement is to be found in the Scriptures? Besides this, there is also another difficulty that presents itself — that if they are the commandments of the Lord, they are necessary to be observed, and they bind the conscience, and yet they are rites connected with polity, as to the observance of which no such necessity exists. Paul, however, merely says, that he enjoins nothing, but what is in accordance with the will of God. Now God endowed him with wisdom, that he might recommend this order in external things at Corinth, and in other places — not that it might be an inviolable law, like those that relate to the spiritual worship of God, but that it might be a useful directory to all the sons of God, and not by any means to be despised.

Calvin: 1Co 14:38 - But if any man be ignorant

38.But if any man be ignorant The old translation reads thus: He that knows not this, will be unknown; ⁸⁸⁹ but this is a mistake. For Paul had it in view to cut off every handle from contentious persons, who make no end of disputing, and that, under the pretense of inquiring — as if the matter were not yet clear; or at least he intimates in general terms, that he regarded as of no account any one that would call in question what he said. “If any one is ignorant, I do not stop to take notice of his doubts, for the certainty of my doctrine is not at all impaired thereby. Let him go then, whoever he may be. As for you, do not the less on that account give credit to Christ, as speaking by me.” In fine, he intimates, that sceptics, contentious persons, and subtle disputants; ⁸⁹⁰ do not by the questions they raise diminish, in any degree, the authority of sound doctrine, and of that truth as to which believers ought to feel assured, and at the same time he admonishes us, not to allow their doubts to be any hindrance in our way. That elevation of mind, however, which despises all human judgments, ought to be founded on ascertained truth. Hence, as it would be the part of perverse rashness, either to maintain pertinaciously, in opposition to the views of all others, an opinion that has once been taken up, or audaciously to cling to it, while others are in doubt, so, on the other hand, when we have felt assured that it is God that speaks, let us fearlessly break through all human impediments and all difficulties. ⁸⁹¹

Calvin: 1Co 14:39 - Wherefore, brethren

39.Wherefore, brethren This is the conclusion in connection with the principal question — that prophecy is to be preferred to other gifts, because it is the most useful gift of all, while at the same time other gifts ought not to be despised. We must observe, however, his manner of speaking. For he intimates, that prophecy is worthy of being eagerly and ardently aspired at by all. In the meantime, he exhorts them not to envy others the rarer gift, ⁸⁹² which is not so much to be desired; nay more, to allow them the praise that is due to them, divesting themselves of all envy.

Calvin: 1Co 14:40 - All things decently and in order

40.All things decently and in order Here we have a more general conclusion, which does not merely include, in short compass, the entire case, but also the different parts. Nay farther, it is a rule by which we must regulate ⁸⁹³ everything, that has to do with external polity. As he had discoursed, in various instances, as to rites, he wished to sum up everything here in a brief summary — that decorum should be observed — that confusion should be avoided. This statement shows, that he did not wish to bind consciences by the foregoing precepts, as if they were in themselves necessary, but only in so far as they were subservient to propriety and peace. Hence we gather (as I have said) a doctrine that is always in force, as to the purpose to which the polity of the Church ought to be directed. The Lord has left external rites in our choice with this view — that we may not think that his worship consists wholly in these things.

In the meantime, he has not allowed us a rambling and unbridled liberty, but has inclosed it (so to speak) with railings, ⁸⁹⁴ or at least has laid a restriction upon the liberty granted by him in such a manner, that it is after all only from his word that we can judge as to what is right. This passage, therefore, when duly considered, will show the difference between the tyrannical edicts of the Pope, which oppress men’s consciences with a dreadful bondage, and the godly regulations of the Church, by which discipline and order are maintained. Nay farther, we may readily infer from this, that the latter are not to be looked upon as human traditions, inasmuch as they are founded upon this general injunction, and have a manifest approval, as it were, from the mouth of Christ himself.

Defender: 1Co 14:4 - unknown tongue

The word "unknown" is not in the original, but was supplied by the King James translators to emphasize that the language being used was one that was not known to the rest of the congregation, and so such an inspired message would be of no value to them. The gift of languages was spectacular and obviously supernatural. However, it was useful only if someone hearing it could actually understand it and interpret ("translate") it for the others, so they also could profit. It was given by the Holy Spirit both as a sign of His presence and also to convey a profitable message to at least some in the audience.

The gift of prophecy was not as spectacular, though more profitable. Thus one possessing the gift of tongues could more easily become puffed up and be tempted to use his ability just to draw attention to himself (or herself) - that is, to "edify" ("build up") himself. In fact, it is probable that he might even open himself to demonic inspiration, for it is unlikely that the Holy Spirit would inspire a message that would be mere gibberish to its hearers. In the definitive passage on this gift, when it was first given on the day of Pentecost, the result was that "the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold ... we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God" (Act 2:6, Act 2:7, Act 2:11). When one really has the Spirit's "gift of tongues" and uses it properly, then such a result as this should follow. Otherwise it is useless, even dangerous.

Defender: 1Co 14:4 - edifieth the church

Paul was especially concerned about the misuse of tongues or other spiritual gifts (Greek pneumatikos) "in the church" (1Co 14:19). It should be remembered that the instructions given here apply in their details only to the church at Corinth, not necessarily to other churches with different problems. For example, the problem of eating meats, discussed in chapters 1Co 8:1 and 1Co 10:1, and that of the "collection for the saints" in 1Co 16:1, were peculiar to Corinth, as also were some of these problems with the misuse of their gifts. The broad principles, however, do apply to all churches (charity, edification, unity, etc.)."

Defender: 1Co 14:8 - uncertain sound

This pungent question applies not only to the use of unintelligible languages in the church but to its whole ministry. If the prophets, teachers, pastors or evangelists do not proclaim God's Word in its truth and fullness, without compromising with evolutionism or current standards of worldly conduct or anything else, then the whole congregation will be unfit for service as "good soldier[s] of Jesus Christ" (2Ti 2:3)."

Defender: 1Co 14:13 - interpret

The word "interpret" in this verse is the Greek diermeneuo, meaning "explain" or "expound" or (if from another language) "translate." It is also the word used in 1Co 12:30; 1Co 14:5; 1Co 14:27; 1Co 14:28. The only two other occurrences in the New Testament are in Act 9:36 and Luk 24:2. However, the word translated "interpretation" in 1Co 12:10 and 1Co 14:26 is hermeneia, from which we get our English word "hermeneutics" (see also its only other occurrences in Joh 1:38, Joh 1:42; Joh 9:7 and Heb 7:2). It seems to be used only of actual "translation" applications. In any case, Paul stresses here again that speaking in a foreign tongue was of no value if no one could understand what the speaker said.

The gift of interpretation enabled its possessor to translate what someone of another nation was saying, an ability which would have particular value when trying to communicate with "barbarians" (1Co 14:11). If there was no such person present, however, then the responsibility fell to one who would presume to speak to the congregation in a foreign language and also to translate it for them. This restriction obviously put a serious curb on the wanton display of the gift of tongues to a group of people unable to comprehend its message."

Defender: 1Co 14:14 - spirit prayeth

A person with the gift of languages "edifieth himself" (1Co 14:4) by praying in that language, but the edification will be only emotional since he cannot understand it. It may bring a blessing of sorts to the individual, assuming he does it when by himself, but according to Paul it should not be done in the church, unless he or another translator is there to explain what was said (1Co 14:28)."

Defender: 1Co 14:18 - I speak with tongues

The Apostle Paul was well educated and could undoubtedly speak in Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and possibly other languages as well. If, in addition, he had the supernatural gift of tongues, as this verse may imply, there is no record of his ever using it. He stressed that he would far rather speak in the church words that all could understand (1Co 14:19)."

Defender: 1Co 14:20 - be not children

Two different words for "children" are used in this verse. Paul is saying they should be like "infants" in "malice" and that, instead of being like toddlers in understanding God's Word, they should be mature men."

Defender: 1Co 14:21 - it is written

This passage is quoted from Isa 28:11, with a possible reference also to Deu 28:49. The Lord was warning in both that he would teach unbelieving Israel obedience by punishing them through a nation of different language. This further proves that the "tongues" of this chapter are not ecstatic utterances but intelligible foreign languages. As the invading language of an alien people would speak forcibly to the rebellious Israelites, so the miraculous manifestation of a sermon given in a language unknown to the speaker, but known to the hearers, would be a convincing "sign" to unbelievers that God was, indeed, speaking to them (1Co 14:22). This had been exactly the effect of the tongues on the day of Pentecost, and so it should be whenever they are used (if ever) today. These "tongues" were (and are today) being badly misused, and Paul was trying diligently to circumscribe their use to situations comparable to that at Pentecost."

Defender: 1Co 14:22 - prophesying serveth

Before the New Testament was codified, the gift of prophecy and the comparable gift of teaching (which would supplement and eventually supersede that of prophecy) were intended primarily to build up believers, and thus were far more beneficial in the church than the gift of tongues."

Defender: 1Co 14:23 - church be come together

The section from 1Co 14:23 through the end of the chapter specifically lays down principles for order in church meetings. The specific details are not binding for all churches, of course, only the principles. It should always be remembered that true New Testament churches cannot exist today (despite claims to that effect by various sects) for the simple reason that the churches described in the New Testament did not yet have the New Testament to guide them. Therefore they needed those who had the gift of apostleship, the gift of prophecy and other supernatural gifts to guide them. Our present-day churches do have God's Word in its entirety, and this ought to be sufficient. Some exceptions may exist, especially when missionaries seek to reach those tribes who still do not have God's Word in a language they can understand. As a general rule, however, the complete Old and New Testaments (with all passages taken in proper context) should be our sole and sufficient guide in faith and practice.

Defender: 1Co 14:23 - ye are mad

Our word "maniac" is derived from the Greek word translated "mad" in this verse. This natural reaction of anyone encountering a person who seems to be speaking in gibberish, would be greatly augmented if he came into a building where many people were doing this simultaneously. Rather than being a sign which would bring unbelievers to Christ, this would drive them away."

Defender: 1Co 14:24 - convinced of all

Even though the gift of prophecy is intended primarily for the edification of believers, an orderly exposition of the Word of God, whether coming directly from God through prophets or indirectly through God-called teachers expounding the Scriptures, will often bring an unbeliever to accept Christ."

Defender: 1Co 14:28 - keep silence in the church

In 1Co 14:27, Paul insists that only one man speak in a foreign language at a time, with never more than three doing this at one meeting, and then only if there is someone present who can translate each message. Since one could only plan to use his gift of tongues if he knew in advance that an interpreter would be there who could explain his message, this restriction would have the practical effect of essentially eliminating this practice in the church. Nevertheless, Paul would not forbid the use of this gift, and neither should we (1Co 14:39) in case some circumstance should develop comparable to that at Pentecost."

Defender: 1Co 14:32 - subject to the prophets

The gift of prophecy was not to be exercised in a trance-like state, with the prophet being used like a robot. Each true "prophet" was in full control of his faculties, so the prophets could speak one at a time, each in proper order, and all were fully capable of stopping and deferring to each other if it was clear that he also had a message from God. Although this gift is no longer needed, and although it has probably ceased (1Co 13:8), the same principle might still be applicable in a church where there is more than one pastor or teacher with the Spirit's gift of teaching. They would not have direct revelations from God, but they all might have fresh insights to be shared from God's now-complete revelation, the Holy Scriptures."

Defender: 1Co 14:33 - confusion

The "confusion" mentioned here applies in context specifically to churches with uncontrolled and disorderly manifestations of tongues and supposed prophecies. The principle, however, applies in general to the entire creation. Its beautiful and intricate order and complexity offer a compelling testimony to their Creator (Rom 1:20), rendering inexcusable anyone who would try to attribute it all to primeval chaos and chance development."

Defender: 1Co 14:34 - women keep silence

This command is quite controversial today. Nevertheless, as Paul insists (1Co 14:37), it is a command of God and can only be disobeyed in peril of divine judgment. In context, however, Paul is specifically prohibiting women only from speaking in tongues "in the churches." This gift, for reasons related to the divinely ordained roles for men and women, had been restricted to men, at least in church meetings. However, women were permitted to pray (1Co 11:5) or even to prophesy in church, as long as the other rules were observed. With respect to women as teachers, see notes on 1Ti 2:11-15."

Defender: 1Co 14:37 - spiritual

"Spiritual" here is the same word (pneumaticos) as "spiritual gifts" (1Co 14:1). Thus Paul is claiming that any man who truly possessed one of the spiritual gifts (especially, perhaps, that of discernment) would have to recognize the divine inspiration of his own writings. This is a very clear and emphatic affirmation by Paul himself of the inerrant verbal inspiration of his epistles."

Defender: 1Co 14:38 - be ignorant

The intent here is to tell the Corinthian church (and, by extension, any other true church) that if any of its leaders refused to recognize the inerrant authority of the Pauline epistles (or, presumably, of any other Scriptures - note what Paul affirmed in 2Ti 3:16, 2Ti 3:17, and Gal 1:8-12), then he should be regarded as "ignorant" of God's will, and no longer regarded as a leader."

TSK: 1Co 14:1 - Follow // charity // desire // prophesy

Follow : Pro 15:9, Pro 21:21; Isa 51:1; Rom 9:30, Rom 14:19; 1Ti 5:10, 1Ti 6:11; Heb 12:14; 1Pe 3:11-13; 3Jo 1:11

charity : 1Co 13:1-8, 1Co 13:13; 2Ti 2:22; 2Pe 1:7

desire : 1Co 12:1, 1Co 12:31; Eph 1:3

prophesy : 1Co 14:3-5, 1Co 14:24, 1Co 14:25, 1Co 14:37, 1Co 14:39, 1Co 13:2, 1Co 13:9; Num 11:25-29; Rom 12:6; 1Th 5:20; 1Ti 4:14

TSK: 1Co 14:2 - he that // understandeth // howbeit

he that : 1Co 14:9-11, 1Co 14:16, 1Co 14:21, 1Co 14:22; Gen 11:7, Gen 42:23; Deu 28:49; 2Ki 18:26; Act 2:4-11, Act 10:46; Act 19:6

understandeth : Gr. heareth, Act 22:9

howbeit : 1Co 2:7, 1Co 2:10, 1Co 13:2, 1Co 15:51; Psa 49:3, Psa 49:4, Psa 78:2; Mat 13:11; Mar 4:11; Rom 16:25; Eph 3:3-9, Eph 6:19; Col 1:26, Col 1:27, Col 2:2; 1Ti 3:9, 1Ti 3:16; Rev 10:7

TSK: 1Co 14:3 - edification // exhortation // comfort

edification : 1Co 14:4, 1Co 14:12, 1Co 14:26, 1Co 8:1, 1Co 10:23; Act 9:31; Rom 14:19, Rom 15:2; Eph 4:12-16, Eph 4:29; 1Th 5:11; 1Ti 1:4; Jud 1:20

exhortation : Luk 3:18; Act 13:15, Act 14:22, Act 15:32; Rom 12:8; 1Th 2:3, 1Th 4:1, 1Th 5:11, 1Th 5:14; 2Th 3:12; 1Ti 4:13, 1Ti 6:2; 2Ti 4:2; Tit 1:9, Tit 2:6, Tit 2:9, Tit 2:15; Heb 3:13, Heb 10:25; Heb 13:22; 1Pe 5:12

comfort : 1Co 14:31; 2Co 1:4, 2Co 2:7; Eph 6:22; Col 4:8; 1Th 2:11, 1Th 3:2, 1Th 4:18, 1Th 5:11-14

TSK: 1Co 14:4 - edifieth himself // edifieth the

edifieth himself : 1Co 14:14

edifieth the : 1Co 14:3, 1Co 14:18, 1Co 14:19

TSK: 1Co 14:5 - would // for // except

would : 1Co 12:28-30, 1Co 13:4; Num 11:28, Num 11:29

for : 1Co 14:1, 1Co 14:3

except : 1Co 14:12, 1Co 14:13, 1Co 14:26-28, 1Co 12:10,1Co 12:30

TSK: 1Co 14:6 - what shall I // revelation // knowledge // prophesying // doctrine

what shall I : 1Co 10:33, 1Co 12:7, 1Co 13:3; 1Sa 12:21; Jer 16:19, Jer 23:32; Mat 16:26; 2Ti 2:14; Tit 3:8; Heb 13:9

revelation : 1Co 14:26-30; Mat 11:25, Mat 16:17; 2Co 12:1, 2Co 12:7; Eph 1:17; Phi 3:15

knowledge : 1Co 12:8, 1Co 13:2, 1Co 13:8, 1Co 13:9; Rom 15:14; 2Co 11:6; Eph 3:4; 2Pe 1:5, 2Pe 3:18

prophesying : 1Co 14:1, 1Co 13:2

doctrine : 1Co 14:26; Rom 16:17; 2Ti 3:10,2Ti 3:16, 2Ti 4:2; 2Jo 1:9

TSK: 1Co 14:7 - things // except // sounds

things : 1Co 13:1

except : 1Co 14:8; Num 10:2-10; Mat 11:17; Luk 7:32

sounds : or, tunes

TSK: 1Co 14:8

Num 10:9; Josh. 6:4-20; Jdg 7:16-18; Neh 4:18-21; Job 39:24, Job 39:25; Isa 27:13; Amo 3:6; Eph 6:11-18

TSK: 1Co 14:9 - easy // for

easy : Gr. significant, 1Co 14:19

for : 1Co 9:26

TSK: 1Co 14:11 - I shall

I shall : 1Co 14:21; Act 28:2, Act 28:4; Rom 1:14; Col 3:11

TSK: 1Co 14:12 - forasmuch // spiritual gifts // seek

forasmuch : 1Co 14:1, 1Co 12:7, 1Co 12:31; Tit 2:14

spiritual gifts : Gr. spirits, 1Co 14:32

seek : 1Co 14:3, 1Co 14:4, 1Co 14:26

TSK: 1Co 14:13 - pray

pray : 1Co 14:27, 1Co 14:28, 1Co 12:10,1Co 12:30; Mar 11:24; Joh 14:13, Joh 14:14; Act 1:14, Act 4:29-31, Act 8:15

TSK: 1Co 14:14 - my spirit // but

my spirit : 1Co 14:2, 1Co 14:15, 1Co 14:16, 1Co 14:19

but : That is, ""not productive of any benefit to others.""

TSK: 1Co 14:15 - What // I will pray with the spirit // and I will sing

What : 1Co 10:19; Rom 3:5, Rom 8:31; Phi 1:18

I will pray with the spirit : 1Co 14:19; Joh 4:23, Joh 4:24; Rom 1:9; Eph 5:17-20, Eph 6:18; Col 3:16; Jud 1:20

and I will sing : Psa 47:7; Rom 12:1, Rom 12:2

TSK: 1Co 14:16 - bless // unlearned // Amen // at

bless : 1Co 14:2, 1Co 14:14

unlearned : 1Co 14:23, 1Co 14:24; Isa 29:11, Isa 29:12; Joh 7:15; Act 4:13

Amen : 1Co 11:24, 1Co 16:24; Num 5:22; Deu 27:15-26; 1Ki 1:36; 1Ch 16:36; Psa 41:13; Psa 72:19, Psa 89:52, Psa 106:48; Jer 28:6; Mat 6:13, Mat 28:20; Mar 16:20; Joh 21:25; Rev 5:14, Rev 22:20

at : 1Co 1:4-8

TSK: 1Co 14:17 - but

but : 1Co 14:4, 1Co 14:6

TSK: 1Co 14:18

1Co 1:4-6, 1Co 4:7

TSK: 1Co 14:19 - in the

in the : 1Co 14:4, 1Co 14:21, 1Co 14:22

TSK: 1Co 14:20 - not // malice // but // men

not : 1Co 3:1, 1Co 3:2, 1Co 13:11; Psa 119:99; Isa 11:3; Rom 16:19; Eph 4:14, Eph 4:15; Phi 1:9; Heb 5:12, Heb 5:13, Heb 6:1-3; 2Pe 3:18

malice : Psa 131:1, Psa 131:2; Mat 11:25, Mat 18:3, Mat 19:4; Mar 10:15; 1Pe 2:2

but : Psa 119:99

men : Gr. perfect, or, of a ripe age, 1Co 2:6; Phi 3:15

TSK: 1Co 14:21 - the law // With

the law : The passage quoted is taken from the prophet Isaiah; but the term torah, Law, was used by the Jews to express the whole Scriptures, law, prophets, and hagiographia; and they used it to distinguish these Sacred Writings from the words of the scribes. It is not taken from the LXX, from which it varies as much as any words can differ from others where the general meaning is similar. It accords much more with the Hebrew; and may be considered as a translation from it; ""only what is said of God in the third person, in the Hebrew, is here expressed in the first person, with the addition of λεγει [Strong’ s G3004], Κυριος [Strong’ s G2962],""saith the Lord. - Dr. Randolph. Joh 10:34; Rom 3:19

With : Deu 28:49; Isa 28:11, Isa 28:12; Jer 5:15

TSK: 1Co 14:22 - for a // not to // but for

for a : Mar 16:17; Act 2:6-12, Act 2:32-36

not to : 1Ti 1:9

but for : 1Co 14:3

TSK: 1Co 14:23 - the whole // will

the whole : 1Co 11:18

will : Hos 9:7; Joh 10:20; Act 2:13, Act 26:24

TSK: 1Co 14:24 - he is convinced

he is convinced : 1Co 2:15; Joh 1:47-49, Joh 4:29; Act 2:37; Heb 4:12, Heb 4:13

TSK: 1Co 14:25 - falling // God is

falling : Gen 44:14; Deu 9:18; Psa 72:11; Isa 60:14; Luk 5:8, Luk 8:28; Rev 5:8, Rev 19:4

God is : Isa 45:14; Zec 8:23

TSK: 1Co 14:26 - every // Let

every : 1Co 14:6, 1Co 12:8-10

Let : 1Co 14:4, 1Co 14:5, 1Co 14:12, 1Co 14:40, 1Co 12:7; Rom 14:19; 2Co 12:19, 2Co 13:10; Eph 4:12, Eph 4:16, Eph 4:29; 1Th 5:11

TSK: 1Co 14:29 - the prophets // the other

the prophets : 1Co 14:39, 1Co 12:10; 1Th 5:19-21; 1Jo 4:1-3

the other : Rather, the others, οι αλλοι .

TSK: 1Co 14:30 - revealed // let

revealed : 1Co 14:6, 1Co 14:26

let : Job 32:11, Job 32:15-20, Job 33:31-33; 1Th 5:19, 1Th 5:20

TSK: 1Co 14:31 - all may learn // all may be

all may learn : 1Co 14:3, 1Co 14:19, 1Co 14:35; Pro 1:5, Pro 9:9; Eph 4:11, Eph 4:12

all may be : Rom 1:12; 2Co 1:4, 2Co 7:6, 2Co 7:7; Eph 6:22; 1Th 4:18, 1Th 5:11, 1Th 5:14

TSK: 1Co 14:32

1Co 14:29, 1Co 14:30; 1Sa 10:10-13, 1Sa 19:19-24; 2Ki 2:3, 2Ki 2:5; Job 32:8-11; Jer 20:9; Act 4:19, Act 4:20; 1Jo 4:1

TSK: 1Co 14:33 - confusion // but // in

confusion : Gr. tumult, or unquietness

but : 1Co 7:15; Luk 2:14; Rom 15:33; Gal 5:22; 2Th 3:16; Heb 13:20; Jam 3:17, Jam 3:18

in : 1Co 4:17, 1Co 7:17, 1Co 11:16

TSK: 1Co 14:34 - women // they are // as

women : 1Co 11:5; 1Ti 2:11, 1Ti 2:12

they are : 1Co 14:35, 1Co 11:3, 1Co 11:7-10; Eph 5:22-24, Eph 5:33; Col 3:18; Tit 2:5; 1Pe 3:1-6

as : 1Co 14:21; Gen 3:16; Num 30:3-13; Est 1:17-20

TSK: 1Co 14:35 - let // a shame

let : Eph 5:25-27; 1Pe 3:7

a shame : 1Co 14:34, 1Co 11:6, 1Co 11:14; Eph 5:12

TSK: 1Co 14:36 - came // or

came : Isa 2:3; Mic 4:1, Mic 4:2; Zec 14:8; Act 13:1-3, Act 15:35, Act 15:36, Act 16:9, Act 16:10; Act 17:1, Act 17:10,Act 17:11, Act 17:15, 18:1-17; 2Co 10:13-16; 1Th 1:8

or : 1Co 4:7

TSK: 1Co 14:37 - any // let

any : 1Co 8:2, 1Co 13:1-3; Num 24:3, Num 24:4, Num 24:16; Rom 12:3; 2Co 10:7, 2Co 10:12, 2Co 11:4, 2Co 11:12-15; Gal 6:8

let : 1Co 7:25, 1Co 7:40; Luk 10:16; 1Th 4:1-8; 2Pe 3:2; 1Jo 4:6; Jud 1:17

TSK: 1Co 14:38

Hos 4:17; Mat 7:6, Mat 15:14; 1Ti 6:3-5; 2Ti 4:3, 2Ti 4:4; Rev 22:11, Rev 22:12

TSK: 1Co 14:39 - covet

covet : 1Co 14:1, 1Co 14:3, 1Co 14:5, 1Co 14:24, 1Co 14:25, 1Co 12:31; 1Th 5:20

TSK: 1Co 14:40

1Co 14:26-33, 1Co 11:34; Rom 13:13 *marg. Col 2:5; Tit 1:5

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: 1Co 14:1 - Follow after charity // But rather that ye may prophesy

1Co 14:1-5 Prophecy, for its greater tendency to edification,

is preferred before speaking with tongues.

1Co 14:6-11 Tongues not understood, like indistinct musical

sounds, are of no service to the hearers.

1Co 14:12-20 All gifts should be referred to edification.

1Co 14:21,22 Tongues are of use for the conviction of unbelievers,

1Co 14:23-25 but in the assemblies of the church prophecy is more useful.

1Co 14:26-33 Rules for the orderly exercise of spiritual gifts in

the church.

1Co 14:34-38 Women are forbidden to speak there.

1Co 14:39,40 An exhortation to use each gift freely, but with

decency and order.

Follow after charity that love to God and your brethren, concerning which I have been speaking so much, as preferable to all common gifts, follow that with your utmost diligence, as the persecutors follow you; for it is the same word that is ordinarily used to signify the violent prosecution of persecutors, though it be applied also to things which we ought eagerly to follow, Rom 9:31 14:19 .

But rather that ye may prophesy but rather, or principally that you may be able to reveal the mind and will of God unto others. Some think, by foretelling things to come; but that is not very probable, such an ability of prophesying being given but to few under the New Testament: it is therefore more probable, that he speaketh of an ability to open the Scriptures, either by immediate revelation, (as to which they could use no means but prayer and a holy life), or by ordinary meditation, and study of the Scriptures. For though the former species of prophesying, by prediction of future things, when the truth of it was justified by such prophecies’ accomplishment, was of great use to confirm the doctrine of the gospel; yet the latter was of greater and more general use for the good of others, which makes the apostle put them upon the coveting and earnest desire of that faculty or ability, because, of all others, it made them most eminently and generally useful to others, as well those within the church, as those without; and this the apostle expoundeth himself, 1Co 14:3 .

Poole: 1Co 14:2 - For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue // not unto men // but unto God // Howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries

For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue by a tongue (for unkown is not in the Greek, but necessarily added by our translators, for he speaketh of such a language) he meaneth a language not known to all, or at least not to the most of them that hear him. It may be asked, what unknown language the apostle here meaneth? Shall we think that any pastors or teachers in the church of Corinth were so vain, as to preach in the Arabic, Scythian, or Parthian language to a people who understood only the Greek? Our learned Lightfoot thinks this not probable, and that if any had been so vain for ostentation, the apostle would rather have chid them for suffering such an abuse, and have forbidden such further practice, than have given direction, than if any so spake he should interpret, as he doth, 1Co 14:5 . He rather thinks, therefore, that the apostle meaneth the Hebrew tongue; the use of which, though it was by this time much lost through the Jews’ mixture with other nations, yet was restored in a great measure to the guides of churches, for their better understanding the Scriptures of the Old Testament; and continued amongst the Jews in their reading of the law in the synagogues. Now there being many Jews in this church, and the service of God being ordinarily in the Jewish synagogues performed in that language, it is very probable, that some of these Jews that were Christianized (to show their skill) might, when they spake to the whole church of Corinth, use to speak in Hebrew, though few or none understood that language. The apostle saith, he that did so, spake

not unto men that is, not to those men who did not understand that language, not to the generality of his hearers, though possibly here and there some might understand him,

but unto God who being the Author of all languages, must necessarily know the significancy of all words in them: for (he saith) scarce any man understood him.

Howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries howbeit he may speak mysterious things to himself, and to the understanding of his own soul and spirit. Others think that it was possible, that some who thus spake, being but the instruments of the Holy Spirit, might not themselves understand all which they said; but that is hardly probable.

Poole: 1Co 14:3 - Speaketh unto men // To edification // And exhortation // And comfort

Speaketh unto men that is, to the understanding of men, and for the good and profit of men.

To edification for their increase in knowledge and all habits of grace.

And exhortation to quicken them in the exercise and practice of such duties as God hath, in his word, required of, them.

And comfort and for the relief of them under their burdens, to support and uphold their troubled or wounded spirits. These expressions make it probable, that the apostle, by prophecy in this text, understands ministerial preaching; which more properly tends to edification, exhortation, and comfort, than the foretelling of things to come.

Poole: 1Co 14:4 - He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself // But he that prophesieth edifieth the church

He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself knowledge or understanding of the things that any man speaketh, is necessary to the improvement of them, by their being a means to promote faith and love; for how shall what men say in the least promote, either my faith in God or Christ, or my love to him, if I understand not what they say?

How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? Rom 10:14 . So that, though he that speaketh in an unknown tongue may (if he understand what he says) have his own heart affected with what he saith, yet it is not possible he should affect another.

But he that prophesieth edifieth the church but he that preacheth in an intelligible language and style to all that hear him, he doth what in him lieth to edify all those that hear him.

Poole: 1Co 14:5 - I would // That

I would in this place, signifies no more than either I could wish, or I could be content that you could all speak with tongues, if God pleased. It should seem by this speech of the apostle’ s, that this speaking in unknown tongues was that extraordinary gift, which, above all others, this church, or the several members of it, were proud and ambitious of. St. Paul tells them, that if God pleased he wished they could all do it. But of the two, he rather wished them all a power to open and apply the Holy Scriptures to men’ s understandings and conscience. He addeth the reason, because it was a more honourable gift and work, and made men truly greater. But he adds,

except he interpret for then he prophesied also.

That saith he, the church that is, those that heard him prophesying, may receive edifying Whence we learn:

1. That spiritual growth, and proficiency in Divine knowledge and habits of grace, ought to be the great end of all preachers; and whose doth not propound this as his end, abuseth his office, and trifles in a pulpit.

2. That whose maketh this his end, will make it his business, to the best of his skill, to use such a language, style, and method, as the generality of his hearers may best understand; for without their understanding, there can be no edifying. And this lets us see the vanity of using much Latin, or Greek, or a lofty style, or a cryptic method, not obvious to poor people in popular sermons, where the people understand not those languages; or philosophical ratiocinations before a plain people that understand none of these things. Such preaching is neither justifiable by reason, nor by the practice either of Christ or his apostles.

Poole: 1Co 14:6 - profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

God hath given me an ability to speak with tongues; suppose I should come to you speaking in the Arabian, Scythian, or Parthian language, what good would it do you? How should it any way

profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? Some make these four things distinct each from other; others think that they all signify no more, than the interpreting mentioned in the former verse. Those who distinguish them say, by revelation is meant the explication of the types and figures of the Old Testament; or some such revelation as John had in Patmos; or the expounding the mysteries of the gospel.

By knowledge they understand the knowledge of history, or any other ordinary knowledge.

By prophesying the explication of the difficult texts of Scripture.

By doctrine catechetical or practical doctrine. But these are all but uncertain guesses; the sense is plainly no more, than, if I should come speaking with unknown tongues, and no way by interpretation make what I say intelligible unto you.

Poole: 1Co 14:7

In the sounds which are artificially made by the use of wind music, or other music, nothing could be understood, if art had not also devised a distinction in the sounds; that one sound should signify one thing, another sound should signify another thing: so unless the voice of the teacher be significant to, and understood by, the person instructed or taught, the sound is of no use at all.

Poole: 1Co 14:8

The trumpet is made use of in battles, and that variously; it is used to give soldiers notice to march on against the enemy, and also to sound a retreat: if there were not a distinction in the one sound, and in the other, how should the soldier know when to go forward, and when to come back, by the sound of it? To instruct them what to do, the trumpet must not only sound, but sound intelligibly to those that hear it, which it could not, if there were no distinction in the sound.

Poole: 1Co 14:9

By logon eushmon is meant words which signify well to those that hear them; for words may be significant enough in themselves, yet nothing at all significant to them that hear them, being unlearned; such sounds of words can contribute nothing to people’ s knowledge, but are so much lost labour. This is a text that deserveth the thoughts of those who affect in preaching, if not the use of languages, yet the use of a style, or method, which not one of many of those who hear them understand. It is all one to speak in an unknown tongue, as in a style or method that people do not understand; and truly, such are the generality of ministers’ hearers, that words most significant in themselves, and to learned ears, are least significant to them, being hardest to be understood; so as they know nothing of what they say, and the minister doth but, as to the far greater number of people, beat the air (which is a dreadful meditation).

Poole: 1Co 14:10

The whole earth was originally of one language, and of one speech, Gen 11:1 ; but upon the building of Babel, Gen 11:7 , God confounded their languages, so as they did not understand one another. They being scattered abroad, had different languages; so as now there are in the world many languages, and the words in every language are significant to those that understand that language.

Poole: 1Co 14:11

But if a man doth not understand the language, the words are not significant unto him, I shall neither understand him, nor will he understand me; for a barbarian cannot understand one of another nation, till he hath learned the language of that nation; nor can a man of another nation understand a barbarian till he hath learned his language.

Poole: 1Co 14:12 - Seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church

This proves that the members of the church of Corinth were very ambitious of

spiritual gifts The particle outw , which our translation here renders so, plainly signifies therefore in this place. In the Greek it is, because, or

forasmuch as ye are zealous of spirits; the efficient is put for the effect, the Spirit, which is the author of those gifts, for the gifts themselves.

Seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church seek that ye may excel in them, and that will be, if you most desire those which tend to the edifying the church, and use those with which God hath blessed you in the best order and manner for that end. From whence it is observable, that the improvement of the people to whom we preach in the knowledge of God, and in faith and obedience, is the great end which we ought to propose to ourselves in the discharge of our office, and in the use of our gifts.

Poole: 1Co 14:13

To interpret here signifieth no more, than to render that intelligible to people, which he first uttereth in an unknown tongue. But what need he pray for that? Hath not every man that can speak a power to speak his native language, as well as a foreign language? Some say, therefore, that ina in this place signifies also, let him pray and also interpret; but this seemeth hard: nor can I think those that had a faculty to speak in an unknown tongue, might some of them not themselves understand what they said, and so had need to pray that they might interpret: but they might be puffed up with their gift, and think it beneath them to interpret, and then they had need to pray that they might have humility enough to interpret. Others think, that by interpreting in this place, is meant something more than bare translating, or turning the words into the common language of the place, viz. the opelling and applying of the Scriptures, an ability to which was a distinct gift; which they who would have, had need pray that God would open their eyes to understand the mysteries of his law.

Poole: 1Co 14:14 - My spirit prayeth

From this and the former verse, the papists would justify the lawfulness of their Latin service, which none or few of the common people understand; and they seem to have a little advantage from the opinion of some of the ancients: That some of those who spake with tongues, did not themselves understand what they uttered, but the Spirit of God only made use of their tongues as machines. But these are apprehensions much beneath the Spirit of light and truth, that it should make use of the tongue of a man for an end neither profitable to the man himself, nor others. Besides, how is it then true which we had, 1Co 14:4 , that he who spake in an unknown tongue edifieth himself? Nay, how can it be true, which is here said, that such a man’ s

spirit prayeth? Nor is it here said, my understanding is dark or blind, but unfruitful; that is, though myself understand, yet my knowledge bringeth forth no fruit to the advantage or good of others.

My spirit prayeth but others cannot pray with me.

Poole: 1Co 14:15 - And I will pray with the understanding also // Understanding

What is to be done then? I will (saith the apostle) pray with the spirit that is, either use the extraordinary influences of the Spirit of God upon me; or with my own spirit, with the inward attention of my thoughts, and the utmost intension of my mind, and the greatest devotion and fervour of affections.

And I will pray with the understanding also but I will so pray, that myself and others may understand what I say; I will neither so pray, that myself shall not understand what I say, nor yet so, that others shall not understand me.

Understanding is here taken in a passive sense, though the active sense of the term be not to be excluded. The same thing he also saith of singing, to let us know, that all our religious acts in public assemblies ought to be so performed, that others may be benefited by them, which they cannot be, if they do not understand what we say, whether it be in preaching, praying, or singing.

Poole: 1Co 14:16 - Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit // How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks? // Seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest

Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit: blessing is expounded in the latter part of the verse, giving of thanks to God, which is either in prayer, (for thanksgiving is a part of prayer), or in singing of psalms. Blessing with the spirit either signifieth giving of thanks with the inward man, or giving of thanks in an unknown tongue, by the extraordinary influence of the Spirit of God.

How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks? It is plain from hence:

1. That the teachers had in the apostolical churches distinct places and seats from the common hearers, for their better convenience in speaking, that they might so speak as all might hear, understand, and be profited.

2. That in those churches there was one only who used to speak audibly, and the work of the others was only from a devout heart to say Amen wishing or praying that God would do what, in the name of all, he that ministered had asked of God for them. So 1Ch 16:36 Neh 5:13,8:6 Psa 106:48 .

Seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest: people ought not to say Amen to any thing, unless they understand that petition, or those petitions, to which, in the worship of God, they add their Amen, which word makes the petitions theirs, being a particle of wishing, as well as affirming.

Poole: 1Co 14:17

Otherwise, saith the apostle, it is possible that thou mayst give thanks well; but others get no good by it, nor can make any good and spiritual improvement of it.

Poole: 1Co 14:18

Our Saviour, in the parable of the good shepherd, gives us this as his character, that the sheep hear his voice, and follow him, Joh 10:4 ; and we shall observe this great apostle every where propounding himself for imitation to them. They are bad shepherds over God’ s flock, that must only be heard, but not followed. The apostle lets them know, that God had not left him without the gift of speaking with divers tongues, nay, he had it in a more eminent manner than them all; put them all together, they could not speak with so many tongues as he did.

Poole: 1Co 14:19

Yet he had so great a regard to the end of his ministry, teaching others, and communicating Divine knowledge to them, that he had rather speak a little tending to that end, than never so much in a language which those to whom he spake did not understand.

Poole: 1Co 14:20 - Be not children in understanding // Howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men

Be not children in understanding in understanding the differences of gifts, and which are more excellent, or of the right use of gifts.

Howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men you are commanded indeed in something to be like little children, Mat 28:3 , but it is not to be understood with relation to knowledge and understanding, but with reference to innocence and malice, which is opposite to it; ye ought to study to be men in understanding, though with respect to innocence ye ought to be as little children.

Poole: 1Co 14:21 - In the law it is written // And yet they will not hear me

In the law it is written: by the law here is meant the Old Testament, (as in many other texts, Joh 10:34 15:25 ), so called (as some think) in opposition to the words of the scribes. The words following are quoted out of Isa 28:11,12 : For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said: This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But there is nothing more ordinary, than for the penmen of the Scriptures of the New Testament to quote passages out of the Old, keeping not so much to the words as to the sense; nor quoting them all, but so many of them as serve for their purposes. The words in the prophet are a threatening, that because God had brought the Jews into Canaan, and promised them rest there, upon their obedience to his commandments, and they would not hear, he would now take another course with them, speaking to them with men of stammering lips, and of another language; meaning the Chaldeans and Babylonians, with whom in captivity they conversed afterwards for seventy years. The sense is much the same (as some think); for they that speak to others in and with strange tongues, are like those that stammer at others, which looks more like a mocking them than an instructing them. Others make the gift of tongues, under the New Testament, to be within the prophecy of Isaiah; as if the prophet’ s words contained both a threatening, to speak to the Israelites with the strange tongues of the Chaldeans; and a promise under the gospel, to speak to them with the tongues of the apostles and others, tuned to various tunes, as men of several nations could understand. Others make this the sense, as if the prophet complained, that the people were so mad, that they regarded no more God speaking to them, than they would have regarded one chattering with a strange tongue. And they think, the apostle checks them for being so ambitious of speaking with strange tongues, whenas their being so spoken to was by the prophet threatened as a judgment upon them.

And yet they will not hear me nor hearken to and obey me.

Poole: 1Co 14:22 - Wherefore tongues are for a sign, &c // prophesying serveth not for them that believe not

Wherefore tongues are for a sign, &c. that is, an eminent product of Divine providence for the confirmation of the truth of the doctrine of the gospel; signifying that the doctrine which was so delivered in every nation’ s language, must be from heaven, from whence the first ministers must have their power so to speak; yet, doubtless, they were not only for a sign, being also a means, by which the knowledge of the gospel was conveyed unto those who could not have understood what the apostles and first ministers of the gospel said, had they not spoken to them in the language of the hearers. When he saith,

prophesying serveth not for them that believe not the meaning is, not only for them that believe not; for prophesying is certainly of use to them that believe not, for their conversion, as well as

for them that believe for their edification.

Poole: 1Co 14:23 - Be come together into one place // And all speak with tongues // And there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers // Will they not say that ye are mad?

Be come together into one place the phrase signifieth to one place, or for one and the same work; the first seemeth to be meant here by what followeth.

And all speak with tongues: some think that the apostle here, by all speaking with tongues, understands all, or many of them, confusedly talking together; and indeed that is an error we shall find the apostle afterward reflecting upon them for; but here I do not think it is intended, but only, many of you, one after another, because of what the apostle speaketh of prophesying, 1Co 14:24 . For if all prophesied in that sense, talking at the same time together confusedly, and unbelievers came in and heard, they would also, instead of being convinced, say they were mad.

And there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers those that are heathens, or that did not understand the language you discoursed in.

Will they not say that ye are mad? Would they not say you were men that had lost the use of your reason, to talk to men in a language you yourselves knew they understood nothing of?

Poole: 1Co 14:24 - But if all prophesy // He is convinced of all // He is judged of all

But if all prophesy: all here certainly is not to be understood of every one in the assembly, for all were not prophets, 1Co 12:29 , nor could the speaking of a great number be judged orderly by the light of nature: it here must signify any, one or more, successively, interpret or apply the Holy Scriptures.

He is convinced of all the heathens will see an order in this, and will stand still to hear and be convinced.

He is judged of all seeing their wicked life and false religion judged and condemned by all those that so prophesy.

Poole: 1Co 14:25

God either, by an extraordinary providence, discovering to him that prophesieth the secrets of such a sinner’ s heart, and causing him that prophesieth to make them manifest; or, by a more ordinary providence, (often experienced at this day), directing the preacher to such subjects and discourses, as he that cometh to hear shall think directed to himself, and confess that he is the man, and be convinced of his errors, and converted, and turn to the Christian religion, and report that God indeed is amongst you. So as prophesying will have these two great advantages of speaking with tongues, God will be more glorified, and the souls of others will be more profited; which makes the gift of prophesying much preferable to the gift of tongues.

Poole: 1Co 14:26 - Let all things be done unto edifying

By what followeth in the two next verses, one would think that some of them, in their church meetings, were so absurd, as, being endued with several gifts, they would be using them all together, one singing, another preaching, a third speaking with tongues, &c.; but this is so apparent a confusion, that one must be very uncharitable to this famous church, to presume that they should be so absurd. Others therefore rather think, that those endued with several gifts, of which he reckoneth five, (under which he comprehendeth all others), were every one contending for his course to exercise his gift; one, for spending the time in singing the psalm he had made; another, for spending the time in hearing his doctrinal discourse; a third, for the spending it in hearing him discourse in an unknown tongue; a fourth, for the spending it in hearing his revelation; a fifth, for the spending it in hearing his interpretation; or at least desiring the time might be protracted, until they had been all successively heard.

Let all things be done unto edifying: to prevent this and other disorders, the apostle giveth several rules. The first is: That all things should be so done, as might tend best to promote in men faith and holiness; that is and ought to be the main and chief end of those who any way minister in sacred things.

Poole: 1Co 14:27 - two or three at most // by course // one

Concerning the use of their gift of tongues, he directeth three things:

1. That every one that had it should not be ambitious to show it at all times, but

two or three at most at a time.

2. That they should do it

by course not together, confusedly.

3. Not without

one to interpret that people might understand. For though these were extraordinary gifts, flowing from a more than ordinary influence of the Spirit of God, yet they were abiding habits, not coming upon them at some certain times, by an impulse; for then they would not have been under human government, as it is apparent this gift of tongues was, else Paul could not have so governed himself in the use of it, as he lets us know he did, 1Co 14:19 .

Poole: 1Co 14:28 - let him keep silence

If he hath a mind to use this gift, he may use it to God who understands all languages, by himself; but

let him keep silence in the assembly of Christians, where he is not understood.

Poole: 1Co 14:29

That is, two or three successively, the one beginning to speak when the others have done, and two or three at the same church assembly; and if there be more present, let them sit still and judge of the truth of what he saith.

Poole: 1Co 14:30

There were two modes or sorts of prophecies; the one ordinary, when the teacher came to those assemblies furnished with a revelation from some previous impression of God upon him, enabling him to give the sense of some scripture, or to open some Divine truth; not as we are, but by some influence of the Holy Spirit upon him, without the use of such means as we use. The other was, by some present afflatus or impression. The apostle seems not to speak of the latter; or if of both, he plainly lets them know, that even such a one was under the government of natural order, and obliged to do nothing confusedly and tumultuously, but might, without any offence to God, stay until the other had finished his discourse.

Poole: 1Co 14:31 - ye may all prophesy // but that all may learn, and all may be comforted

Ye may not all prophesy in the same day, or hour, or moment of time, but orderly and successively

ye may all prophesy the end of it being for the instruction and consolation of all; which may mind you so to govern yourselves in the exercise of that gift, as not to lose your end,

but that all may learn, and all may be comforted Which lets us know, that though their receiving the gift of prophecy obliged them to an exercise of it, yet it did not oblige them to an exercise of it in or at this or that particular time. judged by the law of God, or the light of nature, or the common custom of other churches, to be done indecently or confusedly, without order. It is very observable, that though the apostle, in these things, hath given rules, yet he hath determined nothing shameful or uncomely, but what he hath made to appear so, either from the Divine law, (as in the case of the women’ s prophesying, 1Co 14:34 ), or from nature and reason, (as in the case of many speaking at the same time), it being useless to the end, which was teaching and instructing those to whom they spake, and what unbelievers would count the effect of madness, 1Co 14:23 .

Poole: 1Co 14:32 - are subject to the prophets

By the spirits of the prophets the apostle either meaneth their spiritual gifts, as to the use and exercise of them, and the actions to be done by them; or, the actions themselves, or interpretations pretendedly done and given by the exercise of those gifts, their doctrines; or, that instinct, or impetus, by which they pretend themselves to be moved to prophesy: these (he saith)

are subject to the prophets themselves, so as they may themselves govern their gifts, or (which most think is the rather here intended) they are subject to the judgment and censure of others that are endued with the same gift. But here ariseth a difficulty, how the gifts of the Holy Spirit, flowing immediately from the Spirit, should be subject to any human judgment or censure? This indeed they could not, if the Divine revelation to this or that man were full and perfect, and ran as clearly in the stream always, as it was in the fountain. But God giveth his Spirit to us but by measure, and in the exercise of our gifts there is always aliquid humani, something of our own; and this maketh them subject to the prophets, viz. whether what they pretended to have from the Spirit of God were indeed from it, yea or no? Prophets were obliged to prophesy, Rom 12:6 , but according to the analogy of faith: now, whether they did so or not, might be judged by other prophets, according to that rule. Others think this text is to be interpreted restrainedly, viz. as to this thing in this matter of plain, natural order, commanding, while one speaks, all the rest to hold their peace.

Poole: 1Co 14:33 - confusion

Here he showeth the principle upon which he said, that the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets: what any prophets speak is not so certain, or at least not more certain, than this, that nothing which is

confusion can be from God. Now, for two or three to speak together in a public assembly, is a confusion, and a breach of order, of which God cannot be the author: therefore, in such a thing as that, the spirits of the prophets must be subject to other prophets; and there is a general rule which concerneth not only the church of Corinth, but all churches.

Poole: 1Co 14:34 - they are commanded to be under obedience

This rule must be restrained to ordinary prophesyings; for certainly, if the Spirit of prophecy came upon a woman in the church, she might speak. Anna, who was a prophetess, in the temple gave thanks to the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem, Luk 2:38 : and I cannot tell how Philip’ s daughters prophesied, if they did not speak in the presence of many, Act 21:9 . The reason that is given why women should keep silence, is, because

they are commanded to be under obedience This apostle speaketh much the same thing, 1Ti 2:11,12 , because it looked like a usurping authority over the man; which indeed is true, if it had been the ordinary practice of women to speak in the assemblies of the church; but not so, if some particular women sometimes spake upon an extraordinary impulse or impression. The law to which the apostle here refers, is thought to be that, Gen 3:16 , where the woman is commanded to be subject to her husband, and it is said, that he should rule over her; yet that law did neither restrain Miriam from prophesying, Exo 15:20 , nor yet Huldah, to whom Josiah himself sent, 2Ch 34:22 , of whom it is also said, that she dwelt in the college. But setting aside that extraordinary case of a special afflatus, it was, doubtless, unlawful for a woman to speak in the church.

Poole: 1Co 14:35

This must be understood of speaking to the congregation, for the instructing them, or speaking in the congregation to the minister, or any of the people, for her own instruction, for the woman might, doubtless, say Amen to the public prayers, and also sing with the congregation to the honour and glory of God. But for her to speak in an ordinary course of prophecy to instruct people, or to call aloud to the minister, or any members in the assembly of the church, to be satisfied in any thing wherein she was in doubt, this she is forbidden.

Poole: 1Co 14:36

These words look like a smart reflection upon divers members of this church of Corinth, who thought themselves wiser than all the world besides; and the apostle might foresee, that out of the high opinion they had of themselves they would much contemn and slight his directions. He therefore asks them, what they thought of themselves? Whether they thought themselves the only churches in the world, or were the first that believed in Christ, so that the gospel went out from them, and they might give law to all churches? There were churches at Jerusalem, and in several other places, before there was any church at Corinth, so as the gospel came unto them from other churches, and did not go out from them to other churches.

Poole: 1Co 14:37 - are the commandments of the Lord

If there be any amongst you who hath a conceit that he is inspired by God, and from that inspiration understandeth the mind and will of God, he must acknowledge, that I also am an apostle, and know the mind and will of God as well as he; and being so, that what I tell you

are the commandments of the Lord

Poole: 1Co 14:38 - let him be ignorant

If any one will pretend ignorance in this, he is wilfully ignorant; for my own part, I will concern myself no further about him, but leave myself and him also to the judgment of God;

let him be ignorant In some copies it is, he shall not be known: in the day of judgment Christ shalt say unto him: Depart from me, I know you not.

Poole: 1Co 14:39

The apostle concludeth his discourse, summarily repeating all that he before had said. He had, 1Co 14:2 , encouraged their desire of spiritual gifts; all along the chapter he hath been magnifying the gift of prophecy above the gift of tongues, as being of much more general use, and more for the profit of others; but he minds them here, that he did not forbid those to whom God had given the gift of tongues, to make use of it at due times, and in a due manner and order.

Poole: 1Co 14:40

He forbade them not to speak with tongues, provided they did it decently and orderly, as all other things ought to be done in so grave an assembly as that of the church, and so grave an action as the worship of God. For women to prophesy in the public assemblies, was an indecent thing; he had said, 1Co 14:35 , that it was a shame. For many of them to speak together, confusedly, making a noise, that was disorderly. Nor did this decency or indecency, order or disorder, arise from obeying or disobeying the apostolical constitution, but from the law of God, the light of nature, the common usage of all the churches of Christians, as 1Co 14:33 . All things ought so to be done, (especially in religious assemblies and actions), as they may not be judged by the law of God, or the light of nature, or the common custom of other churches, to be done indecently or confusedly, without order. It is very observable, that though the apostle, in these things, hath given rules, yet he hath determined nothing shameful or uncomely, but what he hath made to appear so, either from the Divine law, (as in the case of the women’ s prophesying, 1Co 14:34 ), or from nature and reason, (as in the case of many speaking at the same time), it being useless to the end, which was teaching and instructing those to whom they spake, and what unbelievers would count the effect of madness, 1Co 14:23 .

PBC: 1Co 14:14 - My spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful

" My spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful"

God hears the prayers of his people in all languages, even inexpressible groans which the Spirit carries to the Father. However, the only way the one who leads public prayer in the church can make his prayer service fruitful is to pray in a language that the congregation can understand. Fruit relates to others, not to self. Did you ever see a fruit tree grow fruit for its private consumption? Never, it grows fruit for the benefit of another! While the primary direction of prayer distinctly is God-ward, it also contains a horizontal benefit.

Sincere public prayer, offered in the church gathering, should not merely represent a list of memorized, ritual phrases, but should dynamically address and talk with the God whom we worship.

True prayer not only reflects the sincere emotions of the one who prays to God; it also should impart understanding to the hearers!   306

PBC: 1Co 14:16 - How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest

" How shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest" ?

This verse makes it clear that our public prayer should always contain a dominant theme of thanksgiving. When Jesus gave his disciples the emblems of his death and suffering with full knowledge that he would experience that death and suffering in just a few short hours, what characterized his prayer? He gave thanks! When life hurls its cruelest blows upon us, we may cry out to God with the bitter, " Why me?" Could we not learn from our Lord, that even in the darkest hour, we have reason to bless and thank God? This wonderful realization would improve many of our prayers immensely. Do you think it might also assure that more of our prayers would receive favorable answers? He gave thanks! When life hurls its cruelest blows upon us, we may cry out to God with the bitter, " Why me?" Could we not learn from our Lord, that even in the darkest hour, we have reason to bless and thank God? This wonderful realization would improve many of our prayers immensely. Do you think it might also assure that more of our prayers would receive favorable answers?   307

PBC: 1Co 14:17

Here we see the horizontal purpose of public prayer. To pray in German in the presence of an English speaking hearer does not hinder God. He understands all languages, including the silent language of the heart. The horizontal function of prayer should edify those who hear.

If you offer public prayer in church, ask God to give you the spirit of understanding and edification. Ask him to guide your thoughts and lips into thankfulness and edifying prayer. Ask him to make your prayer a true part of God’s dynamic worship. Ask him to take away good and pleasant, but memorized, phrases, replacing them with the vital energy of sincere petition to the living God of the universe, and of your life. Ask him to make your prayer representative of the unseen needs of the whole assembled body.   309

Haydock: 1Co 14:1 - But rather that you may prophesy

But rather that you may prophesy. That is, declare or expound the mysteries of faith. (Challoner) ---

To prophesy, in its proper signification, is to foretell things to come: it sometimes is to expound the obscure places in other prophets; and sometimes it is to preach the word of God. Here it is chiefly taken in this last sense. (Witham)

Haydock: 1Co 14:2 - He that speaketh in a tongue // Not to men

He that speaketh in a tongue, which others at least understand not: nay, which sometimes, perhaps, by the 14th and 15th verse, he himself that spoke tongues, did not understand, can only be said to speak to God. In spirit he speaketh mysteries, edifies himself, because in his spirit he is piously and devoutly affected; but he must endeavour that the Church, or people present, may be also edified. Let him then pray for the other gift of interpreting, what he speaks, or let another interpret. (Witham) ---

Not to men. Viz. so as to be heard, that is, so as to be understood by them. (Witham)

Haydock: 1Co 14:5

St. Paul gives them further instructions how to make a right use of these gifts, of prophesying, of interpreting, and especially of speaking tongues. He is far from condemning the gift of speaking tongues, in proper circumstances, but only the indiscreet use, or the abuse of it. This is evident by the 5th verse, I would have you all to speak with tongues, but rather to prophesy. He blames those assemblies and meetings, (ver. 23.) when all present speak tongues together, by which means, the infidels that came thither, and ought to be instructed, understood nothing. He permits at their meetings two or three (ver. 27.) to speak tongues, provided some other interpret them. He also orders, that only two or three prophets speak at a meeting, and by turns, to avoid confusion, that those present may be edified, exhorted, and instructed. (Witham)

Haydock: 1Co 14:6

If I come to you, speaking with tongues in this manner, what shall I profit you, unless in revelation, &c. that is, unless I reveal, and expound to you the meaning, by some other gift, as in knowledge, in prophecy, in doctrine? To speak tongues only without interpreting, is no ways instructive. He that speaks to me, what I understand not, is not better than a barbarian to me, (so the Greeks called those that spoke not their language.) He signifies this inconvenience of not being understood, by the example of instruments, pipes, harps, trumpets, which would not move persons to different affections, nor excite them to different actions, unless the sound, and manner they were played upon, were different; seek, then, and endeavour to make use of the gifts of the Spirit, to edification of the Church, or of the hearers. (Witham)

Haydock: 1Co 14:12 - Of spirits

Of spirits. Of spiritual gifts. (Challoner)

Haydock: 1Co 14:13 - Pray that he may interpret

Pray that he may interpret. In order that he may be rendered more useful to the Church, as the martyrs, who prayed for those particular gifts they saw would be most useful for themselves, or their neighbours. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Co 14:14 - If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is without fruit

If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is without fruit: it may signify without fruit, or profit to others, though some understand, as if by this gift of tongues, they sometimes spoke what they themselves did not understand. (Witham)

Haydock: 1Co 14:16 - How shall he that holdeth the place of the unlearned // Amen

How shall he that holdeth the place of the unlearned (literally, an idiot) say Amen to thy blessing? When persons speak, or pray, and the ignorant have had no instruction concerning such prayers, they cannot know when to say Amen: and when infidels come into such meetings, where they hear many persons at once speaking many tongues, which are understood by no body, will they not be apt to say, you are mad? The like in a manner happened on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples having received this gift, and speaking with tongues, the people hearing them, cried out, they were drunk. (Acts ii. 13.) Yet St. John Chrysostom takes notice, that the fault and madness was in the hearers, not in those who spoke tongues. (hom. xxxvi.) (Witham) ---

Amen. The unlearned not knowing that you are then blessing, will not be qualified to join with you by saying Amen to your blessing. The use or abuse of strange tongues, of which the apostle here speaks, does not regard the public liturgy of the Church, (in which strange tongues were never used) but certain conferences of the faithful, (ver. 26. &c.) in which, meeting together, the discovered to one another their various miraculous gifts of the Spirit, common in those primitive times; amongst which the apostle prefers that of prophesying before that of speaking strange tongues, because it was more to the public edification. Where also note, that the Latin, used in our Liturgy, is so far from being a strange or unknown tongue, that it is perhaps the best known tongue in the world. (Challoner)

Haydock: 1Co 14:19 - But in the Church

But in the Church. The apostle here condemns the vanity of the Corinthians, who made a parade of their gift of tongues. (Calmet)

Haydock: 1Co 14:20-22 - Tongues are for a sign, not to believers, but to unbelievers

Tongues are for a sign, not to believers, but to unbelievers, according to what the law (under which he comprehends the prophet Isaias, xxviii. 11.) said: In other tongues, and other lips, I will speak to this people: and neither so will they hear me. St. Paul here gives the sense, rather than the words of the prophet, and expounds them of what happened particularly on the day of Pentecost, when the miraculous gift of tongues was designed to strike the unbelieving people with admiration, and to bring them afterwards to the true faith: but when he adds, that tongues are not for the believers, and that prophecies are not fo the unbelievers, he cannot mean that tongues, used with discretion, may not also be profitable to believers, or that prophecies and instructions may not also be profitable to unbelievers, as well as to the believers; for this would be to contradict what he teaches in this chapter, and particularly (ver. 24.) where he says, that by prophecy the infidel is convinced, &c. St. Paul, whose design in all this chapter is to regulate the meetings, that they may be conducted with greater edification, and for the instruction, both of the Christians and unbelievers, thanks God, that he has the gift of tongues more than they, but says, that in the Church, or at such Church-meetings, he had rather, for the common edification of others, speak five words, &c. than ten thousand words, &c. and so he concludes, (ver. 39.) be zealous to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. (Witham)

Haydock: 1Co 14:26 - When you come together

When you come together, &c. St. Paul here settles the rules, which they are to observe in their meetings: one hath a psalm, the Spirit inspiring him with some psalm, or spiritual canticle, whereby to praise God: another hath the gift of doctrine, to instruct all there present: another the gift of tongues, which he will not have him to make use of, unless when there is one to interpret, that all things may be done in the most profitable manner unto edification. Two or three at a meeting may speak with tongues, if another interpret. (Witham)

Haydock: 1Co 14:29-32 - Two or three // If any thing be revealed to another sitting

Two or three, who have the gift of prophecy, may speak by turns in one of these assemblies, and the rest of the prophet shall judge, whether he be truly inspired, and speak good doctrine. ---

If any thing be revealed to another sitting by, let the former, who was standing and speaking, hold his peace, which they can do; for the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, that is, they are not like men possessed with evil spirits, who have not power to desist, or to be silent; but these who are moved by an impulse of the holy Spirit, have it in their power either to speak or to be silent, as they judge convenient; for the true God is not the God of dissension and confusion, but the God of peace and order. (Witham)

Haydock: 1Co 14:34 - Let women

Let women be silent, and not speak at all in public Church-meetings: and if they would ask any thing, let them ask it at home. (Witham)

Haydock: 1Co 14:36-38 - Did the word of God

Did the word of God first come out from you? This he says, to check these new preachers, by putting them in mind, that they are not the first, nor the only Christians, and so must conform themselves to the discipline practised in other Churches, especially since, as their apostle, he hath delivered them the commandments of the Lord. And if any man know not, will not acknowledge, and follow these rules, he shall not be known; God will not know, nor approve his ways. The pretended reformers, from the expressions with which the apostle blames the abuse some new converts made of the gift of tongues, think they have found a plausible argument to reprehend Catholic, for using the same Latin tongue in the Mass, and in the public liturgy. They consider not, whether they have the same reasons to find fault with the present discipline of the Church, as St. Paul then had to blame the Corinthians: whether the circumstances be the same or different: they think it enough that Latin, which is used in the Mass, is a language not understood by a great many ignorant people, and therefore they can say with St. Paul, that an idiot, or an unlearned man, knows not when to say Amen to what he hears. Two things offer themselves here to the consideration of every man, who is disposed to judge impartially. 1. Whether the same reasons and motives now subsist for blaming the Catholics. 2ndly, whether the conveniences and inconveniences, duly examined, it be found more commendable to perform the public liturgy, in those, which are the most general languages, as in Latin or Greek, or to have all liturgies turned into as many tongues, as the ignorant people understand and speak in different places. As to the first, St. Paul does not absolutely forbid the use of this gift of tongues, that were not understood, even by any one (as hath been already observed). All that he blames is, that many, who valued themselves on this gift, spoke at the same time altogether strange tongues, which none understood, but those who had another gift of the Spirit, called the interpretation of speeches, on which account in these meetings there was nothing but confusion, without any profit, edification, or instruction, at a time, and in such circumstances, when instructions were absolutely necessary, both for the new converted Christians, and also for the infidels, who flocked thither as much as the Christians. The case is now quite different, when none but Catholics meet, (especially at the Mass) who have been instructed from their infancy, what they are to believe, as to the mysteries of faith, and what they ought to practise, as to the commandments, the sacraments, prayer, and other points, which they have in their catechisms, or which have been delivered to them by catechetical discourses and instructions. And if they have been happily converted, or are upon their conversion, they are always carefully instructed in the tongue which they understand, as to what they ought to believe, and in the duties of a Christian life. Besides this, all present are frequently instructed by sermons and exhortations, not only on Sundays and holidays, but daily in Advent and Lent, as it is the custom in Catholic countries. I know some of our adversaries have been persuaded, that we preach in Latin to the people; to be convinced of the contrary, let them come and hear us; it is the worst I wish them. As to the sacrifice of the Mass, which none but they who are priests, can offer for the people, of which also a great part, according to the institution of the Church, as the Council of Trent observes, (session 22. cap. 5.) is said with a low voice: it is not performed in Latin in the Western Church, or in Greek in the East, that the meaning of the words may be concealed, since the same Council has laid an express injunction upon all pastors, and upon all that have care of souls, that they frequently, and especially on Sundays, and holidays, expound to the people, what is contained in the Mass, to wit, the parts, and the ceremonies. See 22nd session, cap. 8.) And this command is again repeated, (session 24. cap. 7.) that they instruct the people in their mother tongue concerning the divine mysteries and sacraments. All that can read, may find the Mass translated into their own language, and the most ignorant are taught and instructed, that by the different parts are represented the death and sufferings of our Saviour, Christ: they are taught how to offer up at the same time their intention, their heart, and their prayers: to confess themselves sinners before God, as the priest does, how they ought to endeavour to praise, and adore Christ with the blessed spirits in heaven; how they ought to beg graces of God, by saying the Lord's prayer; how they ought, at the same time, at least in spirit and desire, to receive the holy sacrament of the eucharist, with a sincere repentance, with humility and devotion. Cannot all things, then, be done to edification, as St. Paul requires, though the words of the Mass, and public liturgy, be in a language which the ignorant do not understand, but which, of all others, is the most general! Now the second thing to be examined is, whether, all things duly considered, it be better to retain the public Church-offices in Latin, and in those ancient dead languages, as they are called, or to turn the liturgy into as many tongues, as are spoken in different places and countries! Our adversaries, by this new alteration which they have made, have good against the judgment of all Christian Churches, both in the West and East, and in all parts of the world. For as Mons. Simon takes notice, in his Critics, all other Churches (the Protestant only excepted) have judged it expedient, to stick to the words and languages of their ancient liturgies, the Grecians to the ancient Greek, which now the ignorant among them do not understand; the like is to be said of the ancient Syriac, Arabic, Coptic, &c. And it is also observed, that the Israelites continued the reading of the law and the prophets, in the ancient Hebrew, which the common people of the Jews did not understand after their return from the Babylonian captivity. It is well known that Latin in this part of the world, is more generally spread and known, than any other language whatsoever. It is taught every where in all public schools. It is learnt, not only by the ministers of the Church, but by almost all gentlemen, and by persons of all conditions, the poorer sort only excepted. There is this great convenience, that the same priest can perform all the public Church-offices, in all places and kingdoms where he travels. All the faithful, whithersoever they have occasion to go, meet with the same Mass, and liturgy in the same words abroad, which they were accustomed to hear at home. The same uniformity is every where preserved without change or confusion. But according to the method introduced by the Protestants, the liturgy must be changed into as many different tongues, as there are countries and places, and in almost every century, as we see by experience, languages are liable and subject to considerable changes and alterations. From hence arises a danger of changes, as to the doctrine and belief of the faithful: errors and heresies are the consequences, that follow such frequent changes, especially, when by another false principle of the said reformers, every private man and woman has a right to expound the hard and obscure place of the holy Scriptures, which make up the chief and greatest part of all public liturgies in all Christian Churches. I might ask of the Protestants, whether the ignorant people at lest, and idiots, as St. Paul calls them, understand the meaning of the Psalms, when they are sung in Hopkins's rhymes; though they may perhaps know when to say Amen, with the rest. Nor yet does every ignorant man know what the word itself, Amen, signifies, and therefore knows not what he answers. I cannot but here take notice of an unfair way of proceeding, even in the best Protestant translation, by sometimes adding in this chapter the word unknown, and sometimes omitting it. All Catholics are willing to allow, that by the gift of speaking tongues, St. Paul means tongues unknown, though the word unknown is not found so much as once, neither in the Latin, nor even so much as in any one Greek manuscript. The Protestant translators, for tongues, have put unknown tongues, in all the verses, where St. Paul blames the abuse of this gift; to wit, ver. 2. 4. 13. 14. 19. 27. but they make now such addition, where St. Paul either commends, or permits the speaking in tongues not understood, as ver. 5. where he says, I would have you to speak tongues; and ver. 29. where he says, forbid not to speak tongues. It is evident, that there is the very same reason for the addition, or the omission equally in all these verses. Is this to translate faithfully? I would by no means judge rashly, even of any adversary; but it looks as if both the addition and omission was with a design of making this popular objection seem to be of greater force against this point of discipline, and practice of the Catholics, and indeed of all Christian Churches. (Witham)

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Gill: 1Co 14:1 - Follow after charity // and desire spiritual gifts // but rather that ye may prophesy

Follow after charity,.... The apostle having so highly commended charity, or love, in the preceding chapter, presses here to an eager pursuit after it; that is, to an exercise of it, and after those things which make for it, and will serve to maintain and increase it: and everything he has said in praise of it before serves as an argument, or reason, to follow hard after it, with an eagerness used in hunting, and with such violence as persecutors express in pursuing and laying hold on those they seek after, to which there is an allusion in the word here used:

and desire spiritual gifts: for though he had given charity the preference to them, he did not mean that they should despise and neglect them, or treat them with indifference, and be unconcerned about them; but, on the other hand, that they should be very zealous for them, ambitious of them, and earnestly covet them; since being rightly used and kept in their proper place, they were greatly beneficial and profitable to the churches of Christ, and the glory of God:

but rather that ye may prophesy: of all the gifts of the Spirit, the apostle prefers prophesying, and recommends this to the Corinthians, as what they should be chiefly desirous of, and more desirous of than of speaking with tongues, which many among them were so very fond of: by which he means, not so much the gift of foretelling future events, though there was such a gift bestowed on some persons in those times, and, in certain cases, was very profitable to the churches; but a gift of preaching the word, or explaining the prophecies of the Old Testament, and of praying and singing of psalms, all which, as appears from some following parts of this chapter, were included in it; and that not in an ordinary, but in an extraordinary way; a person possessed of this gift could at once, without the use of means, or help of study, preach the word, and open the more difficult parts of Scripture; he had an extraordinary gift of prayer, which he could make use of when he pleased, and at once compose and deliver out a psalm, or hymn, in the public congregation.

Gill: 1Co 14:2 - For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue // speaketh not unto men // for no man understandeth him // howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries

For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue,.... Or with tongues, as some copies and the Ethiopic version read: Dr. Lightfoot thinks, that the Hebrew tongue, which was become a dead language, and understood but by few, is here meant, and that not without reason; seeing the public prayers, preaching, and singing of psalms among the Jews, were in this languages ^x; in imitation of whom, such ministers, who had the gift of speaking this language, read the Scriptures, preached, prayed, and sung psalms in it, which were no ways to the edification of the people, who understood it not; upon which account the apostle recommends prophesying, praying, and singing, in a language that was understood: otherwise he

speaketh not unto men; to the understanding, profit, and edification of men: but unto God: to his praise and glory, and he only knowing, who knows all languages, and every word in the tongue what is said; excepting himself, unless there should be any present capable of interpreting:

for no man understandeth him: or "heareth him": that is, hears him, so as to understand him; he may hear a sound, but he cannot tell the meaning of it, and so it is of no use and advantage to him:

howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries; though under the influence and by the extraordinary gift of the Spirit he has, and to his own Spirit and understanding, and with great affection and devotion within himself, he speaks of the deep things of God, and the mysteries of his grace, the most glorious truths of the Gospel, yet the meaning of his voice and words not being known, he is a barbarian to them that hear him; and though what he delivers are truths of the greatest importance, they are a mere jargon to others, being unintelligible.

Gill: 1Co 14:3 - But he that prophesieth // speaketh unto men to edification // and comfort

But he that prophesieth,.... Preaches, prays, or sings, in a language understood by the common people:

speaketh unto men to edification; to the building of them up in Christ, and on their most holy faith, so that they grow up as an holy temple to the Lord: and exhortation; to the more vigorous exercise of grace, and the more cheerful and fervent discharge of duty:

and comfort; of distressed minds, either through the temptations of Satan, or divine desertions, or inward corruptions, or outward afflictions; for all which ends and purposes the Scriptures are written, and gifts are bestowed on men to explain them; and which ends are answered when God gives a blessing to the word; but can never be expected, if delivered in a language not understood. This bears hard upon the Papists performing any part of divine worship in a language unintelligible to the common people.

Gill: 1Co 14:4 - He that speaketh its an unknown tongue // edifieth himself // but he that prophesieth, edifieth the church

He that speaketh its an unknown tongue,.... Be it the Hebrew language, or any other; some copies, and the Ethiopic version, read, "with tongues":

edifieth himself; his heart may be warmed, his affections raised, his devotion kept up, and he be in a very spiritual and comfortable frame, knowing and understanding what he himself says:

but he that prophesieth, edifieth the church: which is the great end of the Gospel ministry, which is for the edifying the body of the church: wherefore that which tends to the edification of more, even the whole church, must be preferable to that, which at most can only edify one, and that the speaker himself.

Gill: 1Co 14:5 - I would that ye all spake with tongues // but rather that ye prophesied // for greater is he that prophesieth, than he that speaketh with tongues // except he interpret // That the church may receive edifying

I would that ye all spake with tongues,.... This the apostle says, to prevent being misunderstood; for his view was not to bring the gift of tongues into contempt, or to represent it as at all times, and on all occasions, useless and insignificant; nor would he be thought to envy them this gift, or beat them off of desiring it; for, for his own part, he could wish they all had it, was it the will of God; though he must needs say, that prophesying was most desirable by him, as being most profitable;

but rather that ye prophesied; he wished them all prophets, as Moses did all the Lord's people; he was not against their speaking with tongues, but this was the most eligible, for which he gives this reason:

for greater is he that prophesieth, than he that speaketh with tongues; that is, he is more useful and profitable to men, and so consequently more honourable, in higher esteem, and more valued, and in greater dignity, being in a more serviceable post and office, and which is more beneficial and advantageous to mankind:

except he interpret; what he said; and then he might stand upon an equal foot, and be equally useful with him that prophesieth; but this everyone could not do that spake with tongues; for speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues, were two distinct gifts; see 1Co 12:10 and though a man that had the gift of tongues might understand what he himself said to his own edification, yet not be able to interpret it to the understanding and edification of others; and if he could not do this, his speaking was to no purpose: hence the apostle advises such an one to pray that he might interpret, have the gift of interpretation also, in 1Co 14:13.

That the church may receive edifying: which otherwise cannot be thought it should, or be expected, and then an opportunity and ordinance would be wholly lost.

Gill: 1Co 14:6 - Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues // what shall I profit you // except I shall speak to you, either by revelation // or by knowledge // Or by prophesying // or by doctrine

Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues,.... The apostle exemplifies this matter in himself, and supposes it his own case, that should he who was the apostle of the Gentiles, and to be received by them as such, when he came to them, come with this gift of tongues, which he was capable of, as much, or more than any, see 1Co 14:18 and only make use of that,

what shall I profit you? of what use would my ministry be to you? what instruction, comfort, and edification, could you receive by it?

except I shall speak to you, either by revelation; by the revelation of Jesus Christ, whereby he received the Gospel he preached; or by the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, and the mysteries of his grace, by which they were made known unto him at first, or by a fresh immediate revelation from heaven:

or by knowledge; the word of knowledge, one of the peculiar gifts of the Spirit, 1Co 12:8.

Or by prophesying; the gift of prophecy, another of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, mentioned in the same chapter, 1Co 12:10 and already explained:

or by doctrine? the same with the word of wisdom, another gift of the same Spirit, in 1Co 12:8. The apostle intimates, that by the use and exercise of these gifts, he might be profitable to them, to lead them into a clearer view of the doctrines of the Gospel, and for the further improvement of their knowledge in the Scriptures of truth, which could never be done by bare speaking with tongues, and with tongues they understood not.

Gill: 1Co 14:7 - And even things without life giving sound // whether pipe or harp // except they give a distinction in the sounds // how shall it be known what is piped or harped

And even things without life giving sound,.... He instances in things inanimate, that have neither reason, sense, nor life, in musical instruments, and these of various sorts:

whether pipe or harp; wind music, or hand music; either that which is blown with the breath, or pressed or stricken with the hand:

except they give a distinction in the sounds; or "tunes", so as one may be discerned from another; as that this is such a musical note, and that is another:

how shall it be known what is piped or harped? what tune is played; such an use of instruments would be a mere jargon, and not music, and so yield no pleasure to the ear, or mind; and just the like must speaking in an unknown tongue be, to one that understands it not.

Gill: 1Co 14:8 - For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound // who shall prepare himself to the battle

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound,.... That is not plain and manifest, so as that it cannot be known on what account it is given:

who shall prepare himself to the battle? the allusion is to the custom of many nations, Jews and others, who, when about to engage in war, made use of musical instruments, particularly the trumpet, to gather the soldiers together, prepare them for the battle, give them notice of it, and animate them to it ^y; the sound of the trumpet was the alarm of war; see Jer 4:5. And particularly the allusion may be to the two silver trumpets, ordered by God to Moses for the Jews, which were to be made of a whole piece, and to be used for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps, and to blow an alarm with when they went to war against the enemy, Num 10:1 and were a lively emblem of the Gospel, whose use is to gather souls to Christ, to direct saints in their journeying, and to prepare and animate them for battle, with their spiritual enemies; and of which use it is, when it gives a certain and even sound, as it does when clearly and rightly blown; and that is, the sound of love, grace, and mercy, to the sons of men, through a bleeding Saviour; salvation alone by a crucified Jesus, peace and pardon by his blood, justification by his righteousness, and atonement by his sacrifice; when it is blown aright, it blows a blast on all the goodliness of man, it magnifies the grace of God, exalts the person of Christ, debases the creature, shows its impurity, imperfection, and inability; and expresses the nature, use, and necessity of efficacious grace; and puts believers on doing good works for necessary uses, but not for life, righteousness, and salvation; and so its sound is equal, even, and certain: and when it is so, it is a means of gathering souls to Christ, the standard bearer and ensign of the people; and of engaging them to enlist themselves as volunteers in his service; and of animating them to fight under his banner the battles of the Lord of hosts: but if this trumpet gives an uncertain sound, as it does when grace and works are blended together in the business of salvation; and faith or works put in the room of, or joined with the righteousness of Christ in justification; when particular election and general redemption, or the salvability of all men, are put together; the covenant of grace represented as conditional, and preparations for grace, and offers of grace, and days of grace talked of, that may be past and lost; then who can prepare himself for the battle? persons must be thrown into, and left in the utmost uncertainty and confusion: when this is the case, they know not what side to take on, but halt between two opinions; they know not what that faith is they are to fight and earnestly contend for; they are not able to discern an enemy from a friend; they have no heart to fight and endure hardness, as good soldiers of Christ; nor can they promise themselves, or be assured of victory, which the certain sound of the Gospel gives them.

Gill: 1Co 14:9 - So likewise you, unless ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood // how shall it be known what is spoken // for ye shall speak into the air

So likewise you, unless ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood,.... This is an accommodation of the foregoing similes to the case in hand: for as unless there is a distinction of notes and tunes, it cannot be music, nor it cannot be known what is piped or harped; and unless the trumpet gives a certain sound, none can know when to prepare himself for the battle; so unless in the public ministry and service a language is spoken, and words made use of, which are understood without difficulty:

how shall it be known what is spoken? the subject matter of the discourse, prayer, or psalm, will be all lost, and therefore cannot be for edification, exhortation, or comfort:

for ye shall speak into the air; into which such words are resolved, and the use and benefit of them, as to others, cease with the breath, by which they are delivered: any part of divine service performed in such a way is all in vain, and to no purpose; it is all lost labour, it is beating the air, and talking to the wind. This condemns the practice of the Papists, performing divine service in a language not understood by the common people; and exposes the folly of those, who are fond of a florid style, of bombast words, great swelling words of vanity in their public discourses: this is only speaking into the air, with regard to the vulgar, whose edification should be consulted: and as the end of the Gospel ministry is public usefulness and edification, plainness of speech, words easy to be understood, should be used; such as are apt and fit to convey the true idea of things to people in common; these are the acceptable words, which the wise preacher, who is desirous of doing good to the souls of men, will seek out, and studiously make use of.

Gill: 1Co 14:10 - There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices // and none of them is without signification

There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices,.... לשנא, "tongues", or "languages", as the Syriac version renders it; that is, as many as there are nations in the world; there may be seventy of them, as the Jews say there were at the confusion of languages at Babel; there may be more or less:

and none of them is without signification: every language, and every word in a language, has a meaning in it, an idea annexed to it, which it conveys to him that understands it, and that cannot be done without a voice ordinarily speaking.

Gill: 1Co 14:11 - Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice // I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me

Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice,.... The force and power of a language, the signification of it, the ideas its words convey, but only hear the sound of it:

I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me: like one of those rude and uncultivated people that inhabit deserts and wild places, who can neither understand the language of others, nor be understood by others; and indeed may be meant of any sort of people, that do not understand one another's language: the word בר, "bar", and ברא, "bara", in the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic languages, not only signifies a field, a wood, or desert place, but also without, or any thing extraneous; and being doubled, signifies one that lives without, in another land; a stranger, and that speaks a strange language; so all other nations of the world were barbarians to the Hebrews, and particularly the Egyptians; see the Targum on Psa 114:1 and so were all other nations to the Greeks, see Rom 1:14 and also to the Romans: and the sense is, that where the signification of a language and the sense of words are not known, the speaker is like a man that lives in a strange country to him that hears him; and the hearer is like to one that lives in a strange country to him that speaks, since they cannot understand one another. The word sometimes is used for men, αφωνοι η ανκοοι, ^z, "that can neither speak nor hear", men dumb and deaf; and when words cannot be understood, the case is all one as with such persons.

Gill: 1Co 14:12 - Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts // seek that ye may excel, to the edifying of the church

Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts,.... Gr. "of spirits"; that is, "of the gifts of the Spirit", as the Syriac version renders it; and we rightly, "spiritual gifts"; the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, for which the apostle does not blame them; these being what he had before exhorted them to covet earnestly, and zealously affect and desire: but then he further advises,

seek that ye may excel, to the edifying of the church: above all, be desirous of such gifts, and of excelling in them, and abounding in the exercise of them, which may be most profitable and edifying to the members of the church; and what these were, and in what manner to be used, he had before signified: the Alexandrian copy reads, seek that ye may prophesy.

Gill: 1Co 14:13 - Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue // pray that he may interpret

Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue,.... The Hebrew, or any other, the gift of speaking with which is bestowed upon him:

pray that he may interpret; that he may have also the gift of interpretation of tongues; for as has been before hinted, these two gifts were distinct; and a man might have the one, and not the other; a man might speak in an unknown tongue, so as to understand himself, what he said, and be edified, and yet not be capable of translating it at once into the common language of the people; and if he could not do this, he would not excel in his gift to the edification of the church; whereas if he could interpret he would, and therefore, above all things, he should pray to the Father of lights, the giver of every good and perfect gift, that he might be furnished with this also.

Gill: 1Co 14:14 - For if I pray in an unknown tongue // my spirit prayeth // but my understanding is unfruitful

For if I pray in an unknown tongue,.... In the Hebrew tongue, which the greatest part of the Jewish doctors insisted ^a upon should be only used in prayer; which notion might be borrowed from them, and now greatly prevailed in the church at Corinth; and the custom was used by such as had the gift of speaking that language, even though the body and bulk of the people understood it not:

my spirit prayeth; I pray with my breath vocally; or else with affection and devotion, understanding what I say myself, and so am edified; or rather with the gift of the Spirit bestowed on me:

but my understanding is unfruitful; that is, what I say with understanding to myself is unprofitable to others, not being understood by them.

Gill: 1Co 14:15 - What is it then // I will pray with the Spirit // and I will pray with the understanding also // I will sing with the Spirit // I will sing with the understanding also

What is it then?.... A Talmudic way of speaking, and answers to מהו, often used when a difficulty arises in any case, then the question is, "what is it then?" what is to be done? what is most prudent, advisable, and eligible? what is proper to be determined and resolved on in such a case? the same with τι ουν λεκτεον, "what then is to be said?" used by Philo the Jew ^b: as here, shall I not pray with the Spirit at all, because my understanding, or that which I understand, is of no use to others, being not understood by them? shall I entirely neglect, lay aside, and make no use of the extraordinary gift of the Spirit, bestowed upon me on this account? no:

I will pray with the Spirit; meaning not with the human breath, or spirit only, vocally, with an articulate voice, and distinct sounds, so as to he understood; nor with his own spirit, or in a spiritual way, with a spirit of devotion and fervency, with his whole heart and soul engaged in such service, though this is necessary to it; nor with the common and ordinary assistance of the Spirit of God, though without this prayer cannot be performed aright, with faith and fervency, freedom and boldness; but with the extraordinary gift of the Spirit, so as to pray in an extraordinary manner, with divers tongues, in an unknown language; this, as the apostle was capable of, he determined to use at proper times, and on proper occasions: but then he also resolves,

and I will pray with the understanding also; not merely so as to understand himself, or with an understanding enlightened by the Spirit of God; with a spiritual experimental understanding of things, so as to know the object of prayer, the way of access to him, the need of the Spirit's influence, his own wants and necessities, and that he shall have the petitions he asks in faith, according to the will of God, all which is very requisite in prayer; but so as to be understood by others: his sense is, that though on some occasions he might choose to make use of his extraordinary gift, yet he would also pray in a language, in which he might be understood by the people; that so they might be able to join with him, and receive some fruit and advantage thereby; and that their souls might be refreshed, as well as his:

I will sing with the Spirit; meaning also not with the spirit, or breath, singing vocally only; nor with his own Spirit, with his heart engaged in the work, with grace in it, in the lively exercise of faith, hope, and love, with much spiritual light, knowledge, experience, and judgment, which are very necessary to the due discharge of this duty; nor merely with the ordinary aid of the Spirit of God, which yet is greatly needful to excite attention, assist meditation, enlighten the understanding, raise the affections, strengthen faith, and make a comfortable application of what is sung; but as before, with the extraordinary gift of the Spirit, by which the apostle was capable of delivering out a psalm, or hymn, extempore, and that in an unknown tongue: but then he also determines,

I will sing with the understanding also; not to his own understanding, or by or with the understanding of what is sung, though that is absolutely needful; but to the understanding of others, and in a language also which may be understood by others, and in which they could join with him in that service: perhaps the apostle may have some respect to the title of some of David's psalms, משכיל, "Maschil", which signifies "causing to understand".

Gill: 1Co 14:16 - Else when thou shall bless with the spirit // how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned // say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest

Else when thou shall bless with the spirit,.... Which must be understood of giving thanks to God, not in a private way, in the family and at meals, but in a public manner before the whole congregation, for mercies temporal and spiritual, especially the latter; and that not with the breath, or voice only; nor with the affections of the heart, with the soul, and all that is within it, though that is what should be; nor with the common assistance of the Spirit, and under the influence of his grace, which excites to true gratitude; but with the extraordinary gift of the Spirit, pronouncing the blessing, or expressing the thanksgiving with divers tongues, or in an unknown language: when this part of divine service, which by the way is distinct from singing, is performed in this manner,

how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned; ιδιωτου, "idiot". The word הדיוט, "idiot", is often used by the Jewish writers, and signifies a plebeian, one of the common people; and is sometimes indeed distinguished from a wise man, or a learned man; but frequently signifies a private person, whether learned or unlearned, that is not in so high a post as others; hence we read ^c דיינים הדיוטות, "of private judges", which were not of the great sanhedrim, and of private men, as distinguished from kings ^d;

"there are three kings, and four הדיוטות, "private men", (the Jews say,) that have no part in the world to come; the three kings are Jeroboam, Ahab, and Manasseh; the four private persons are Balsam, Doeg, Ahithophel, and Gehazi:''

here a private man is distinguished from the public minister that blesses, or gives thanks in the name of the people; and not to be understood of a single person, whose place and office it was to say "Amen", at the minister's giving of thanks, and who stood in some particular place for that purpose; but of the whole body of the people, who, in distinction from the minister, were in the condition of private men, and all joined, as will be seen hereafter, in saying "Amen"; now the apostle's question is, that if thou who art a public minister, givest blessing and praise, or returnest thanks to God in an unknown tongue, how shall the common people, or anyone that is in a private capacity,

say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? It was usual to say "Amen" at blessing, or giving of thanks privately at meals, by those that were present, concerning which are the following rules ^e;

"he that breaks the bread, might not break it until the "Amen" was finished out of the mouth of those that answered; Rab Chasdai says out of the mouth of the major part of those that answer:''

and elsewhere ^f it is said,

"they answer "Amen" after an Israelite has blessed, but they do not answer "Amen" after a Cuthite (a Samaritan, or any Gentile, or Christian) hath blessed, unless the whole blessing is heard:''

but of this kind of blessing the apostle speaks not, but of blessing in public: upon which all the people, and not a single person only, as with one united voice, said Amen; see 1Ch 16:36 to this practice the apostle refers; concerning which the rule ^g is;

"that the congregation may not answer "Amen", until the blessing is finished out of the mouth of the priests; and the priests may not begin the other blessing, until the "Amen" is finished out of the mouth of the congregation.''

There were different sorts of "Amen", or rather different pronunciations of it; of which the Jews say ^h,

"they may not answer with a fatherless "Amen"; nor with a sudden or violent "Amen"; (pronounced quick and in haste;) nor with an "Amen" cut off, or asunder (the last letter of it not pronounced): says Ben Azzai, whoever answers with a fatherless "Amen", his children shall be fatherless; with a quick "Amen", his days will be short; with an "Amen" cut off, his days shall be cut off; and whoever prolongs "Amen", his days and years shall be prolonged.''

Now, אמן יתומה, "a fatherless Amen", was when a person answered, and he did not know what he answered ⁱ to; and such an "Amen", in the case here, must a private man answer with, at the giving of thanks in an unknown tongue; and to answer "Amen" to what was said in a language not understood, was not allowed of; so the woman suspected of adultery was to be sworn and examined by the priest in a language she understood; and was to say "Amen, Amen", to what was said, in a language known to her ^k; for if she did not understand it, how could she say "Amen?" which is the apostle's reasoning here: but was this an affair of such importance, to be instanced in and argued upon in this manner? with the Jews it was, who say ^l,

"that greater is he that answers "Amen", than he that blesses:''

and indeed they bestow very extravagant encomiums on those who say it in a proper manner;

"there is nothing greater (they say ^m) in the sight of the blessed God, than the "Amen" the Israelite answers with; says R. Joden, whoever answers "Amen" in this world, is worthy to answer "Amen" in the world to come;''

again ⁿ,

"says R. Joshua ben Levi, whoever answers "Amen", his hame shall be great and blessed for ever and ever; says R. Simeon ben Lakish, whoever answers "Amen" with all his strength, the gates of paradise will be opened for him, according to Isa 26:2.''

Moreover, it was a practice of the primitive Christians at the Lord's supper, at the close of it, to say with a loud voice "Amen"; the account Justin Martyr gives of it is this ^o; that

"when the minister had finished the prayers, and the thanksgiving, all the people present, with a joyful acclamation, said "Amen"; which word, he observes, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies "so be it":''

and this custom might obtain in the Corinthian church at this time, to which the apostle is thought by some learned men to refer.

Gill: 1Co 14:17 - For thou verily givest thanks well // but the other is not edified

For thou verily givest thanks well,.... In very proper words, and pertinent expressions, with great affection and devotion, suitable to the service;

but the other is not edified; the rest of the people, who do not understand the language in which thanks are given; "thy friend", as the Syriac version reads it; or thy next neighbour, he that stands by thee, receives no manner of profit by it, because he does not understand what is said.

Gill: 1Co 14:18 - I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all.

I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all. This the apostle says, to observe to them that he did not despise speaking with tongues: nor did he endeavour to beat them off, and dissuade them from desiring them, or envied their having them, because he was destitute of them himself; for he had this gift in a very eminent manner, and oftentimes made use of it, and was frequently under a necessity of so doing; he could speak with more tongues than any of those that had them, and spoke them oftener than they did; having occasion for them through his travelling into different countries, and preaching the Gospel to people of divers languages; and this he mentions also not in a boasting manner, but in great humility, giving thanks to God, and acknowledging him to be the author of this gift.

Gill: 1Co 14:19 - Yet in the church I had rather speak five words // with understanding // that by my voice I might teach others also // than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue

Yet in the church I had rather speak five words,.... Referring not to the five books of Moses, as Jerom suggests, and much less, as the Papists say, to the five words, "for this is my body"; by the muttering of which they suppose the bread in the Lord's supper to be transubtantiated into the body of Christ; but meaning a very few words, which he chose to speak in the church before the congregation, when and where saints were met together for public worship, for their edification and comfort, and the glory of God; for though at other times, and to other people, he might think fit to make use of his gift in speaking with divers tongues, yet at such a time and place he thought it much more eligible to say ever so few words

with understanding: so as to be understood by others, as well as himself:

that by my voice I might teach others also; the doctrines of the Gospel, the mysteries of grace, the duty of men towards God and men, and one another:

than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue; than to deliver ever so long an oration in a language not understood by them, which could be of no use unto them; for though they might hear his voice, the sound of his words, yet thereby he could not teach and instruct them to their profit, unless they understood the language which he spoke; and therefore five words understood were more likely to be of use than ten thousand spoken in a strange language.

Gill: 1Co 14:20 - Brethren, be not children in understanding // howbeit in malice be ye children // but in understanding be men

Brethren, be not children in understanding,.... There are some things in children in which it is reproachful for believers to be like them; as nonproficiency in knowledge, want of capacity to receive, bear, and digest strong meat; levity, fickleness, and inconstancy, unskilfulness in the word, deficiency of knowledge, want of understanding, not of things natural, but spiritual and evangelical; which is the more aggravated, since their understandings were opened and enlightened; an understanding was given them; the Spirit of God, as a spirit of understanding, was bestowed on them; they had the Scriptures, which are able to make wise unto salvation, and the man of God perfect; and also the ministers of the Gospel to explain divine truths to them; and many had been a long time in the school of Christ, and might have been teachers of others; and yet; after all, were children in understanding, and needed to be taught the first principles of the oracles of God. The apostle here has chiefly reference to the gift of speaking with tongues, these Corinthians were so desirous of; which when they had it, was only to talk like children; and for them to prefer it to other gifts, which were more useful and beneficial, discovered their judgment to be but the judgment of children; and if they desired this, and made use of it for ostentation, it showed a childish vanity, from which the apostle here dissuades:

howbeit in malice be ye children: in other things it is commendable to imitate children, and be like them; as in innocence and harmlessness of conversation; to be meek, modest, and humble, free from pride and vain glory; to be without guile and hypocrisy, without rancour and bitterness, envying and malice, but tender hearted, and ready to forgive. This the apostle recommends:

but in understanding be men; or "perfect", of ripe and full age, who have their senses exercised to discern between good and evil, גבר "a man", says Aben Ezra ^p, in our language, signifies מלא דעת, "one full of knowledge", as in Exo 10:11. It is not perfection of justification that is here meant, for babes in Christ are as perfect in this sense as grown men; nor a perfection of sanctification, for there is no such thing as this in any in this life; there is a perfection of sanctification in Christ, and of parts in everyone that is a new creature; and as that denotes sincerity and uprightness, it is in all that have known the grace of God in truth; but then these are each of them as true of new born babes, young converts, as of older Christians, and strong men: but of knowledge and understanding in divine things; which though it is imperfect in the best, yet in some it is in greater perfection than in others; who may, in a comparative sense, be said to be perfect, or men of full age, who are arrived to a considerable ripeness and maturity of spiritual knowledge; and this is what believers should be pressing after, and desirous of, and make use of all proper methods, such as reading, hearing, and praying, to attain unto.

Gill: 1Co 14:21 - with men of other tongues, and other lips, will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord

In the law it is written,.... In Isa 28:11 for the word law is not be confined to the five books of Moses, but includes all the writings of the Old Testament; and this entirely agrees with the sense of the Jews. Says R. Azarias ^q.

"is it not to be found with our wise men, of blessed memory, in many places, that the word תורה, "law", comprehends the prophets, and the holy writings?''

And he gives an instance out of the Talmud, and which indeed is very pertinent to the purpose, and is rightly produced, and will support the apostle in calling the prophecy of Isaiah the law, since it is so called in the following passage ^r. R. Chijah bar Aba says, that

"R. Jochanan said, from whence is the resurrection of the dead to be proved, מן התורה, "out of the law?" from what is said in Isa 52:8 "thy watchmen shall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall they sing". It is not said "they sing", but "they shall sing": from hence the resurrection of the dead is to be proved out of the law.''

And out of the same book the apostle cites the following words;

with men of other tongues, and other lips, will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord: the words, "men of", are a supplement of our translators, and which does not seem very necessary: nor is any made in other versions. The words, as they are in our translation of the prophet, are read thus, "with stammering lips, and another tongue, will he speak to this people". Some difference there is between the two passages, which are of no great moment; the words "lips" and "tongue" are inverted by the apostle; nor was it at all material to observe the strict order of them in the citation: and he has also rendered "stammering lips" by "other tongues", and that very rightly; for the word לעג, used by Isaiah, does not signify stammering, but derision or mocking; so persons that are spoken to in a language they understand not, look upon themselves to be mocked and derided: and the apostle is to be justified by the Chaldee paraphrase, which renders the words, בשנוי ממלל, "with change of speech": that is, with another and different language. Moreover, it is to be observed, that the prophet delivers the passage in the third person, and the apostle cites it in the first: the reason of this is, because he adds these words to it, "saith the Lord": partly for the sake of the authority of the words, and partly to engage the attention of the Corinthians to them; and certain it is, that Isaiah's meaning is, that the Lord would speak in such a manner to the Jews: the other phrase, "for all that will they not hear me", are taken out of Isa 28:12. Some think that this prophecy refers to God's speaking, by the apostles on the day of Pentecost, with divers tongues, to the Jews; when, though there were three thousand converted at that time, yet these were but comparatively few; the body of the people remained incredulous, and hearkened not to the apostles, though their ministry was attended with such signs and wonders: but rather the sense seems to be this, that whereas the Lord had spoken in the plainest manner to the people of the Jews, by the prophets, as he would afterwards by the apostles, and had repeated his words so often, that even a child might be thought to be capable of receiving them; yet such was their stupidity and obstinacy, that they slighted and disregarded them; wherefore he threatens them he would take another method with them, and speak to them in his providences, by people of different and strange languages, as by the Chaldeans, Medes, and Persians, in the seventy years' captivity, and by the Romans, and other nations since, among whom they now are; and yet all this has had no effect upon them to listen to the doctrine of the prophets and apostles. Hence the Corinthians had no reason to be so desirous of speaking with divers tongues, since these have been threatened and used by God in a way of punishment to a people, and not a blessing.

Gill: 1Co 14:22 - Wherefore tongues are for a sign // not to them that believe // but to them that believe not // but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not // for them which believe

Wherefore tongues are for a sign,.... Of wrath and punishment inflicted on a rebellious and unbelieving people, and not of grace and kindness, as prophesying, or speaking to them by the prophets, was; and so this is an inference from what is said in the preceding verse, and shows, that there was no reason why believers should be so very desirous of them. But if these words refer to all that is said before on this subject, the word "sign" may be taken for a miracle; and so a new argument is formed against an over fondness for divers tongues, and the use of them in public worship, showing the preferableness of prophecy to them; for speaking with divers tongues was used in a miraculous way,

not to them that believe; who have no need of miracles to raise their attention to what is said, and that it may gain credit with them, or to confirm their faith in it:

but to them that believe not; to prepare them to listen to what might be suggested to them, when they see the persons speaking were endued with miraculous powers, and to engage their assent to it, and belief of it; and so with such persons, and for such purposes, was the gift of speaking with divers tongues used by the apostles, Act 2:4 but inasmuch as the Corinthian church consisted of believers, there was no need of such a sign or miracle among them; wherefore, if they desired such gifts, and to make use of them, they should choose to do it, not in the church, but among unbelievers:

but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not; that is, not for them only; for prophesying or explaining the prophetic writings, or preaching the word, may be, and often is, the means of converting unbelievers; yet this is not the only use, nor does it serve for, or administer comfort to unbelievers as such; but is profitable to, and serves

for them which believe: it is for their edification, exhortation, and comfort, 1Co 14:4 it is the means of building them up on their most holy faith; of quickening and stirring them up to the exercise of grace, and performance of duty; of comforting them under various distresses, inward and outward; and of establishing, strengthening, and settling them, and therefore much more eligible to be used in a church of Christ, than speaking with tongues.

Gill: 1Co 14:23 - If therefore the whole church // be come together in one place // and all speak with tongues // And there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers // will they not say ye are mad

If therefore the whole church,.... The whole congregation of believers incorporated together in a Gospel church state, consisting of its officers and private members; the church at Corinth is particularly designed:

be come together in one place; to worship God, to pray unto him, sing his praise, preach and hear the word, as were usually done. Hence may be observed the custom of the primitive churches to meet together, in some certain place, for divine worship; nor did the members of them in common forsake the assembling of themselves together on that account, though it was the evil practice of some of them; the whole church, all the members of it, met together: and it may be seen from hence, that the church, and the place where it met, are two different things:

and all speak with tongues; divers tongues, languages not understood; meaning, not that all that came together spoke with tongues; but that as many as did speak, should they speak with such, and without an interpreter.

And there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers; either private Christians, who, though they have learned Christ, and understand the doctrines of the Gospel, yet are ignorant of languages; or rather the same persons with unbelievers, Heathens that have no knowledge of Christ, nor faith in him, and who also understood no other language but the Greek: if any such persons should come into the place where the church was met together, and should hear him or them that spoke, speak in a language they understood not, and which they were very well assured was equally unknown to the whole congregation, and so could be of no service to them:

will they not say ye are mad? act like men in a frenzy, that have not the use of their reason; since speaking in a strange language to a congregation that know not one word of what is said, is speaking to the air, and to no profit at all to them that hear; and who but a madman would do this? The apostle here argues from the scandal and contempt that would be poured upon them by such a practice; and the rather he mentions this, because it seems as if their governing view was the glory and applause of men, in which, he suggests, they would be sadly disappointed.

Gill: 1Co 14:24 - But if all prophecy // and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned // he is convinced of all, he is judged of all

But if all prophecy,.... That is, all that speak publicly in the church, not together, but in their order, one after another, as is hereafter directed:

and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned; an unbeliever that has only the knowledge of his mother tongue, in which prophesying or preaching is used:

he is convinced of all, he is judged of all; of all the prophets or preachers; they all reprove him, and detect his secret, as the Arabic version renders the words; and to the same purport the Ethiopic. This must be understood of such persons whom the Spirit of God, under, and by the ministry of the word, powerfully works upon; whose hearts he opens to receive the word, and to whom he effectually applies it; whom he convinces of sin, righteousness, and judgment, shows the evil of their hearts and ways, reproves their errors, convicts them of their mistakes, and informs their judgments, and condemns all their principles and practices which are not agreeably to the word of God.

Gill: 1Co 14:25 - And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest // and so falling down on his face // he will worship God // and report // that God is in you of a truth

And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest,.... Not to the prophets, or preachers, or to the rest of the congregation, but to himself; the word preached being in the hands, and trader the influence, direction, and application of the Spirit of God, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart; showing the plague and naughtiness of it, discovering the lusts that are in it, detecting the errors of the mind, and filling the conscience with a sense of guilt, and a consciousness of deserved punishment; so that the person looks upon himself as particularly spoken to, and as if the person speaking had knowledge of all that was within him, and adapted his discourse on purpose to him, and delivered it for his sake alone; concluding, that there is, and must be, something more than human in it:

and so falling down on his face: either publicly before the whole congregation; or when retired, as one ashamed of his sins and errors, and not able to look either God, or good men, in the face; and being in an adoration posture; or however, being truly humbled before God under a sense of his iniquities,

he will worship God; pray unto him, and earnestly entreat he would be merciful to him a sinner, and blot out all his transgressions, and forgive him all his sins; and will ever after acknowledge him to be the true God, embrace his Gospel, submit to his ordinances, and attend his service:

and report: or "declare", freely and openly to the church, to all men, to the world, and to his company from whence he came, and to whom he belonged,

that God is in you of a truth: that the Spirit of God, who is truly God, and searches the deep things of God, and reveals them, and the deep things of men, and makes them manifest, is in the prophets and preachers, otherwise they would never be able to make manifest the secrets of the heart as they do; and that the presence of God is in the church, and the power of God goes along with the ministration of the word: hereby, now many valuable ends are answered, a sinner is converted, God is worshipped and glorified, credit is brought to religion, the church of Christ is spoken well of, and prophets or preachers are honoured; wherefore prophesying, seeing it is both for the edification of believers, and conversion of sinners, ought to be desired, and made use of before speaking with tongues.

Gill: 1Co 14:26 - How is it then, brethren // when ye come together // everyone of you hath a psalm // Hath a doctrine // hath a tongue // Hath a revelation // Hath an interpretation // let all things be done to edifying

How is it then, brethren?.... Or "what is it brethren?" The Arabic renders it, "what is the sense of my words?" The meaning of what he had said, the drift of his whole discourse; or rather the sense is, what is to be done in the case he was about to propose?

when ye come together; as a church into one place, to worship God;

everyone of you hath a psalm; not that everyone had this, or any other gift here mentioned, but that there were some among them that had one or other of these several gifts: some of them had a gift of composing and singing a psalm extempore; they delighted in psalmody, and were forward to promote it, and fond of spending the time wholly in it.

Hath a doctrine; others of them had a gift of deducing doctrines out of the word of God, which is profitable for that purpose, in an extraordinary manner, without study, and were capable of teaching them, and instructing men in them in a very edifying way:

hath a tongue others had the gift of speaking with divers tongues; or had knowledge and skill in the Hebrew tongue, could not only pray and sing in that language, and read the sacred text, but could deliver a sermon in it.

Hath a revelation; others had a peculiar insight into the types and figures of the Mosaic dispensation, a clear view of the prophetic writings, and a large discovery of the mysteries of the Gospel, by the Spirit, as a spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Hath an interpretation; others had a gift of interpreting languages, particularly the Hebrew language, when anything was delivered therein by another. Now the apostle answers to the question, what is to be done in such a case, where there is such a variety of gifts, and everyone is desirous of exercising his peculiar gift?

let all things be done to edifying; intimating, that each of these things might be done; every gift might be made use of: he that had a psalm might sing it; and he that had a doctrine might deliver it; he that had a tongue might speak with it; and he that had a revelation might declare it; and he that had an interpretation might make use of it; provided that care was taken that each was done in such a manner, as might be for the edifying of the church that was met together; otherwise, if it was only for ostentation sake to make a show of their gifts and talents, and to nourish their own pride and vanity, no good end would be answered; it had better be let alone: but if edification could be promoted, each gift might be employed; for which the apostle gives the following directions.

Gill: 1Co 14:27 - If any man speak in an unknown tongue // let it be by two, or at most by three, and that by course // let one interpret

If any man speak in an unknown tongue,.... He begins with the gift of tongues, with speaking in an unknown tongue, as the Hebrew language, because this they were desirous of: and the rule for this he would have observed is,

let it be by two, or at most by three, and that by course. The Arabic version reads it, "let him speak to two, or at most three, and separately"; as if it respected the number of persons he was to speak to at a time, and that in a separate and private manner: but the apostle's sense is, that two such persons as had the gift of speaking in an unknown tongue, or three at most, should be only employed at one opportunity, lest too much time should be taken up this way, and prevent a more useful and edifying exercise; and that these should speak not together, which would be a mere jargon and confusion, and make them took like madmen, and render them entirely useless indeed; but in course, one after another, that so an interpreter might be able to take their sense, and render what they said, and express it in a language the people understood: for it follows,

let one interpret what the two or three had said. This practice seems to be borrowed from the Jews, who had such an officer in the synagogue as a "Methurgeman", or "an interpreter". The rise of which office, and the rules to be observed in the performance of it, are as follow, delivered by Maimonides ^s:

"from the times of Ezra it has been customary that an interpreter should interpret to the people what the reader reads in the law, so that they may understand the nature of things; and the reader reads one verse only, and is silent until the interpreter has interpreted it; then he returns and reads a second verse: a reader may not raise his voice above the interpreter, nor the interpreter raise his voice above the reader. The interpreter may not interpret until the verse is finished out of the mouth of the reader, and the reader may not read a verse until the interpretation is finished out of the mouth of the interpreter; and the interpreter might not lean neither upon a pillar, nor a beam, but must stand in trembling, and in fear; and he may not interpret by writing, but by mouth: and the reader may not help the interpreter; and they may not say the interpretation written in the law; and a little one may interpret by the means of a grown person, but it is no honour to a grown person to interpret by the means of a little one; and two may not interpret as one, but one reads ואחד מתרגם, "and one interprets" ^t.''

An interpreter might not interpret according to his own sense, nor according to the form of the words, or its literal sense; nor might he add of his own, but was obliged to go according to the Targum of Onkelos ^u, which they say was the same that was delivered on Mount Sinai. The place they stood in was just before the reader; for so it is said ^w,

"the interpreters stand before the wise man on the sabbath days, and hear from his mouth, and cause the multitude to hear.''

And elsewhere it is said ^x,

"the interpreter stands before the wise man, the preacher, and the wise man (or doctor) whispers to him in the Hebrew language, and he interprets to the multitude in a language they hear,''

or understand. And sometimes these sat at his side, and only reported what the doctor whispered privately. So

"it is said ^y, that when the son of R. Judah bar Ilai died, he went into the house of Midrash, or the school, and R. Chaniah ben Akabia went in and sat by his side, and he whispered to him, and he to the interpreter, and the interpreter caused the multitude to hear.''

And they never put any man into this office until he was fifty years of age ^z. Several of the Jewish Rabbins were interpreters, as R. Chananiah before mentioned, and R. Chutzphit, and others ^a.

Gill: 1Co 14:28 - But if there be no interpreter // let him keep silence in the church // and let him speak to himself, and to God

But if there be no interpreter,.... None that has the gift of interpretation of divers tongues, and he that speaks with them has not that, which was sometimes the case:

let him keep silence in the church; let him not make use of his gift publicly before the whole congregation, since without an interpreter it will be entirely useless:

and let him speak to himself, and to God; he may make use of his gift to his own edification, and to the glory of God, by speaking with a low voice, or in his heart, which he himself may be conscious of, and God the searcher of hearts, and that knows all languages, fully understands; and so may be edified himself, and God may be glorified by him; whereas, if he was to use it openly and publicly, it would not only be unprofitable, but an hinderance to others: or he might retire to his own house, and there exercise it by himself, and in the presence of God, when it might be of some use and advantage to himself, but would be highly improper to bring it into the church, or public congregation; for instead of assisting, it would but dampen their devotion, and therefore it was very reasonable he should be silent there.

Gill: 1Co 14:29 - Let the prophets speak, two or three // and let the other judge

Let the prophets speak, two or three,.... The apostle having finished the rules for streaking with an unknown tongue, proceeds to lay down some for the gift of prophesying; and observes, that where there are a number of prophets, as very likely there were in the church at Corinth, two or three of them might prophesy, or explain the prophecies of the Old Testament, or preach the Gospel at one opportunity or meeting: he does not use that restrictive clause, "at most", as before, because if there was any necessity or occasion for it, more might be employed, so that care was taken not to burden the people, and send them away loathing; and this they were to do, as before, in course, one after another, otherwise it would be all confusion, nor could they be heard to edification. Though some have thought that they might speak together at one and the same time, in different parts of the church:

and let the other judge: the other prophets that sit and hear, and all such as have a spirit of discerning, whether what the prophets say comes from their own spirits, or from a lying spirit, from the spirit of antichrist, or whether from the Spirit of God; and even the body of the people, private members of the church, and hearers, might judge of the doctrine for themselves, according to the word of God, the standard of faith and practice; and were not to believe every spirit, but try them, whether they were of God, and their doctrines by his word, whether they were true or false; for the spiritual man is in a measure capable of judging all things of a spiritual kind, through that spiritual experience he has of the word of God, and divine things, and by the assistance of the Spirit of God.

Gill: 1Co 14:30 - If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by // let the first hold his peace

If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by,.... To another prophet that sits, and hears, and tries, and judges what he hears; if he has a clearer revelation made to him of what the other is speaking of, and has a more distinct knowledge of it, and is capable of removing any difficulty that attends it, and of expressing it more plainly, and of proving it more largely, and of setting it in an easier light to the understandings of men:

let the first hold his peace; be that was speaking, upon such an intimation being made to him, let him stop, and give way to him that has the revelation, that the church may receive the benefit of it: hence it may be observed, that the custom of the primitive churches was to hear the word sitting, and the prophet or preacher stood, or sat, as he thought fit; See Gill on Mat 5:1, and that sometimes a revelation was made, and light conveyed to these prophets in a very sudden and extraordinary manner, when it was proper that it should be at once communicated for the good of the whole society: but this is to be understood only of those prophets or preachers, not of the common people; for it must not be thought that any that rose up, and pretended to a revelation, might be indulged to deliver it, and the speaker give way to him, which might be attended with much confusion, and many bad consequences; but only such who were known to have gifts, and who at certain times had peculiar revelations made unto them.

Gill: 1Co 14:31 - For ye may all prophesy one by one // that all may learn // and all may be comforted

For ye may all prophesy one by one,.... Not every member of the church, but everyone that had the gift of prophecy; so that they were not confined to two or three prophets at a meeting, but as many as would, or as had anything to deliver, and as time would allow; only care must be taken that confusion be avoided, and order preserved by exercising in turns one after another. This was agreeably to the custom of the Jewish synagogue, in which more might read and speak, though but one at a time; for

"it is forbidden to read in the book of the law, except one only, that all may hearken, and be silent, that so they may hear the words from his mouth, as if they had heard them that very moment from Mount Sinai.''

So here,

that all may learn; more of the doctrine of Christ, and of the mind and will of God, and attain to a greater knowledge in the mysteries of the Gospel, and in the duties of religion, even prophets and teachers as well as private members and common hearers; for there are none who know ever so much, but are capable of being further taught and instructed, and that sometimes by such whose gifts are interior to them:

and all may be comforted; or exhorted, or receive exhortation. The word used signifies both; and prophecy is useful both for exhortation and comfort, and that both to preachers and people.

Gill: 1Co 14:32 - And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. Meaning either that the doctrines which the prophets deliver, the explanations they give of passages of Scriptures, the revelations they declare, are subject to the examination, judgment, and censure of other prophets; who have a right to try and judge them, either according to a more clear revelation they may have, or rather according to the sure word of prophecy, the Scriptures of truth; and indeed they are subject to the trial and judgment of the whole church, and therefore ought not to be stiff in their own sentiments, and obstinately persist in them, but cheerfully and readily submit them to be examined, and approved or disapproved by others; and particularly when one that sits by signifies he has something revealed to him, which will better explain, or give further light into what the speaker is upon, he ought to submit and give way to him; and thereby truth may be made manifest and established, instruction, edification, and comfort promoted, and peace and order preserved: or else the sense is, that the spiritual gifts of the prophets, and the inspirations and instincts by which they are acted, and the affections which are excited in them, are subject to themselves, so that they can use, or not use those gifts; though they have the word of the Lord they can forbear speaking, as Jeremy did, for a while, and as the case of Jonah shows; or they can refrain themselves and be silent, and wait till they have proper opportunity of speaking, being not like the prophets of false gods, who are acted by an evil spirit, and observe no order or decorum, but with a sort of fury and madness deliver involuntarily what is suggested to them: but such is not the case of true prophets that are influenced and directed by the Spirit of God, who will give way to one another; one will be silent while the other speaks, and by turns prophesy one after another; and where there is not such a subjection, it is a sign that the Spirit of God is not in them, for the reason that follows.

Gill: 1Co 14:33 - For God is not the author of confusion // of peace // as in all churches of the saints

For God is not the author of confusion,.... Or disorder, or "tumult", as the Syriac renders it; wherefore he does not inspire and excite his prophets to deliver themselves in a disorderly and tumultuous manner, so as to break in one upon another; but when one speaks, the other is silent, or when one has anything revealed to him, and he signifies it in a proper manner, the other stops and gives way to him, and when he has done another succeeds, and so the rest in order, till the whole opportunity is filled up in an orderly and edifying manner; and whatever is contrary to, or breaks in upon such a method, God is not the author of: for he is the author

of peace, harmony, unity, and concord among his prophets and teachers, and so of order, for the former cannot be without the latter; where there is no order in the ministry, there can be no peace among the ministers, nor comfort in the churches; but God is the God of peace, he calls for, requires, disposes, and approves of peace and order among all his people:

as in all churches of the saints. The Vulgate Latin reads, "as I teach in all", &c. and so read some copies, and may refer to all that is said before; and the sense be, that all the rules he had prescribed concerning speaking with tongues, and prophesying, were not new ones, but such as he had directed to be observed in all churches he was concerned with, and which consisted of holy and good men; or God is the author, not of confusion, but of peace in all the churches; he orders and disposes peace among them, and they attend to it: peace and order, and not confusion and tumult, prevail in all churches that deserve to be called churches of the saints, and therefore were in this to be imitated by the church at Corinth.

Gill: 1Co 14:34 - Let your women keep silence in the churches // for it is not permitted unto them to speak // But they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law

Let your women keep silence in the churches,.... This is a restriction of, and an exception to one of the above rules, that all might prophesy; in which he would be understood of men only, and not of women; and is directed against a practice which seems to have prevailed in this church at Corinth, allowing women to preach and teach in it; and this being a disorderly practice, and what was not used in other churches, the apostle forbids and condemns, and not without reason:

for it is not permitted unto them to speak; that is, in public assemblies, in the church of God, they might not speak with tongues, nor prophesy, or preach, or teach the word. All speaking is not prohibited; they might speak their experiences to the church, or give an account of the work of God upon their souls; they might speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; or speak as an evidence in any case at a church meeting; but not in such sort, as carried in it direction, instruction, government, and authority. It was not allowed by God that they should speak in any authoritative manner in the church; nor was it suffered in the churches of Christ; nor was it admitted of in the Jewish synagogue; there, we are told ^b, the men came to teach, and the women לשמוע, "to hear": and one of their canons runs thus ^c;

"a woman may not read (that is, in the law), בצבור, "in the congregation", or church, because of the honour of the congregation;''

for they thought it a dishonourable thing to a public assembly for a woman to read, though they even allowed a child to do it that was capable of it.

But they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. In Gen 3:16, "thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee". By this the apostle would signify, that the reason why women are not to speak in the church, or to preach and teach publicly, or be concerned in the ministerial function, is, because this is an act of power, and authority; of rule and government, and so contrary to that subjection which God in his law requires of women unto men. The extraordinary instances of Deborah, Huldah, and Anna, must not be drawn into a rule or example in such cases.

Gill: 1Co 14:35 - And if they will learn anything // let them ask their husbands at home // for it is a shame for women to speak in the church

And if they will learn anything,.... If they are desirous of learning anything in relation to doctrine, duty, or discipline, and of improving their knowledge of divine things, which is very commendable in them; if any difficulty arises in their minds whilst hearing the word, which they want to have removed, or any question to ask for information sake,

let them ask their husbands at home; privately, when retired from the public assembly; for though men might ask one another concerning this, and the other point, in the church, as was usual in the synagogue worship, to which this church at Corinth in many things conformed; yet women were not allowed this freedom, and even in things which belonged to women to do; as for instance, making the cake of the first of their dough, which was to be an heave offering to the Lord, the men were to teach the women at home how, and when to separate it from the rest ^d. So the apostle directs women, when they wanted to be informed about any point, to apply to their husbands at their own houses, if they were such as were capable of instructing them; if not, they might apply to other men that were Christian men, and men of knowledge, especially to the prophets, pastors, and teachers of the church, at their habitations:

for it is a shame for women to speak in the church; it is a shame to themselves, as being contrary to the natural modesty and bashfulness of the sex, and a shame to the church, to the non-members of it, and especially to the elders, and more experienced part of it, to be taught and directed by a woman; it is a disgrace to herself and sex, as betraying uncommon pride and vanity, and an unnatural boldness and confidence; and a disgrace to the church to be under such a ministry and conduct.

Gill: 1Co 14:36 - What? came the word of God out from you // or came it unto you only

What? came the word of God out from you?.... That you must give laws to other churches, and introduce new customs and practices never known or used before? No; the word of the Lord came out of Zion, and the law or doctrine of the Lord, the word of the Gospel, the doctrine of the grace of God, came out of Jerusalem. The apostles that first preached it were Jews, and they preached it first in their own land, and planted churches there, before it came to the Gentiles; and therefore the apostle suggests it would be right to consider what was the practice of the churches in Judea, the first Gospel churches, concerning women's speaking in the church, and to conform thereunto; when they would be able to observe, that these first churches from whence the word of God came to them, disallowed of any such practice, but in this point agreed with the old synagogue:

or came it unto you only? no, it came to many other nations, and people, and towns, and cities besides them; and many churches were formed among the Gentiles, who had no such custom, did not permit their women to speak in the church; and therefore why should they be singular and different from all others? other churches had the word of God, had gifts, and prophesying as well as they, and yet had introduced no such custom; and therefore it became them to pay a deference to the judgment and practice of others, especially since these were under, and acted according to the direction of the apostle, which they ought to have been subject to.

Gill: 1Co 14:37 - If any man think himself to be a prophet // or spiritual // let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord

If any man think himself to be a prophet,.... Or "seems to be a prophet", and is really one; for the apostle does not so much design to strike at the pride, vanity, and appearances of false prophets, as to observe, that those that are really prophets, have the gift of prophesy, either of foretelling future events, or a peculiar gift of preaching the Gospel, and explaining the Scriptures, will allow what he had said to be right:

or spiritual; not merely one that has the Spirit of God, is regenerated and sanctified by him, in opposition to a natural and carnal man; or one that has a larger knowledge of spiritual things, in distinction from a babe in Christ; but one that is endued with spiritual gifts, with the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, with a discerning of spirits; as there were such among them no doubt, as well as prophets, and who were distinct from them, having the word of wisdom and knowledge:

let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord; if he is a true prophet, and really a spiritual man, he will clearly see, and therefore ought to own, that the rules here prescribed concerning speaking with tongues and prophesying, and concerning the intolerableness, unlawfulness, and indecency of women's speaking in public assemblies, are perfectly agreeable to the commands of Christ, and are to be esteemed as such, being delivered under the influence and direction of his Spirit; and which the prophet and spiritual man must discern and allow, if they have the Spirit of God; for whatever was commanded by the apostles under divine inspiration, was all one as if immediately commanded by Christ himself.

Gill: 1Co 14:38 - But if any man be ignorant // let him be ignorant

But if any man be ignorant,.... Of "these" words, as the Arabic version adds, and does not know and own them to be the commandments of Christ; though he may profess himself to be a prophet, or a spiritual man, he is a very ignorant one, and has not the Spirit of God he pretends to: and if he will not be convinced, but goes on to doubt, and call in question the truth of these things, and obstinately persist in his ignorance,

let him be ignorant: let him be treated and despised as an ignorant man; and let his ignorance be no hinderance to any in receiving these rules and directions as the commandments of Christ; for no regard is to be had, or pity shown, to a man of affected ignorance, and wilful obstinacy; such a man is not to be known and owned, but shunned and rejected.

Gill: 1Co 14:39 - Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy // and forbid not to speak with tongues

Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy,.... The apostle now draws to a conclusion, and reassumes the exhortation he gave in the beginning of the chapter, pressing the members of this church to desire the gift of prophecy, that being the most eligible and preferable to others, particularly to speaking with tongues, since it was the most useful and edifying, as he abundantly proves:

and forbid not to speak with tongues; such as have that gift, and are desirous of exercising it, provided they observe the rules prescribed, and have an interpreter; this he adds to promote love, and prevent dissension and discord.

Gill: 1Co 14:40 - Let all things be done decently and in order.

Let all things be done decently and in order. Which may refer not only to what is said in this chapter, but in the foregoing part of the epistle; go not to law before the unbelievers; let not a believing yokefellow depart from an unbelieving one; let not him that has knowledge sit in an idol's temple, and eat meat there; let not a man pray with his head covered, and a woman with hers uncovered; come not to the house of God to eat and drink intemperately, thereby reflecting dishonour and scandal on the ordinance of the Lord's supper; let not any speak in an unknown tongue in the church, without an interpreter, as if he was a madman, nor suffer women to teach in public; all which are very unbecoming, and contrary to the rules of decency: do not encourage animosities, factions, and parties; despise not the faithful ministers of the word, but honour and obey them in the Lord; neglect not the discipline of the church, lay on censures, and pass the sentence of excommunication on such as deserve them; keep the ordinances as they have been delivered, particularly that of the Lord's supper; observe the rules prescribed for prophesying and speaking with tongues, and so all these things will be done according to the order of the Gospel: and the words may be considered as a general rule for the decent and orderly management of all things relating to the worship of God, and discipline of his house; that in all things a good decorum, and strict order, be observed, that nothing be done contrary to the rules of decency, and the laws and commandments of Christ.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Ayat / Catatan Kaki

NET Notes: 1Co 14:2

¹ tn Or “with the spirit”; cf. vv. 14-16.

NET Notes: 1Co 14:3

¹ tn Grk “edification.”

NET Notes: 1Co 14:4

¹ sn The Greek term builds (himself) up does not necessarily bear positive connotations in this context.

NET Notes: 1Co 14:6

¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

NET Notes: 1Co 14:12

¹ tn Grk “eager for spirits.” The plural is probably a shorthand for the Spirit’s gifts, especially in this context, tongues.

NET Notes: 1Co 14:14

¹ tc ‡ Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A D^s Ψ 048 Ï lat sy bo), have γάρ (gar, “for”) here, while an equally impressive array of witnesses lack the conjunction (Ì⁴⁶ B F G 0243 1739 1881 sa). This conjunction was frequently added by scribes in epistolary literature as a clarifying word, making the connection with the preceding more explicit. As such, it has the earmarks of being a motivated reading and thus should be rejected. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

NET Notes: 1Co 14:15

¹ tn Grk “what then is it?”

NET Notes: 1Co 14:16

¹ tn Grk “how can someone who fills the place of the unlearned say ‘Amen.’”

NET Notes: 1Co 14:20

¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

NET Notes: 1Co 14:21

¹ sn A quotation from Isa 28:11-12.

NET Notes: 1Co 14:26

¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

NET Notes: 1Co 14:33

¹ sn This phrase may be taken with v. 33a.

NET Notes: 1Co 14:34

¹ tn The word for “woman” and “wife” is the same in Greek. Because of the reference to husbands in v. 35, the word may be translated “wives” here. But in passages governing conduct in church meetings like this (cf. 11:2-16; 1 Tim 2:9-15) the general meaning “women” is more likely.

² sn For they are not permitted to speak. In light of 11:2-16, which gives permission for women to pray or prophesy in the church meetings, the silence commanded here seems not to involve the absolute prohibition of a woman addressing the assembly. Therefore (1) some take be silent to mean not taking an authoritative teaching role as 1 Tim 2 indicates, but (2) the better suggestion is to relate it to the preceding regulations about evaluating the prophets (v. 29). Here Paul would be indicating that the women should not speak up during such an evaluation, since such questioning would be in violation of the submission to male leadership that the OT calls for (the law, e.g., Gen 2:18).

NET Notes: 1Co 14:35

¹ tc Some scholars have argued that vv. 34-35 should be excised from the text (principally G. D. Fee, First Corinthians [NICNT], 697-710; P. B. Payne, “Fuldensis, Sigla for Variants in Vaticanus, and 1 Cor 14.34-5,” NTS 41 [1995]: 240-262). This is because the Western witnesses (D F G ar b vg^ms Ambst) have these verses after v. 40, while the rest of the tradition retains them here. There are no mss that omit the verses. Why, then, would some scholars wish to excise the verses? Because they believe that this best explains how they could end up in two different locations, that is to say, that the verses got into the text by way of a very early gloss added in the margin. Most scribes put the gloss after v. 33; others, not knowing where they should go, put them at the end of the chapter. Fee points out that “Those who wish to maintain the authenticity of these verses must at least offer an adequate answer as to how this arrangement came into existence if Paul wrote them originally as our vv. 34-35” (First Corinthians [NICNT], 700). In a footnote he adds, “The point is that if it were already in the text after v. 33, there is no reason for a copyist to make such a radical transposition.” Although it is not our intention to interact with proponents of the shorter text in any detail here, a couple of points ought to be made. (1) Since these verses occur in all witnesses to 1 Corinthians, to argue that they are not original means that they must have crept into the text at the earliest stage of transmission. How early? Earlier than when the pericope adulterae (John 7:53-8:11) made its way into the text (late 2nd, early 3rd century?), earlier than the longer ending of Mark (16:9-20) was produced (early 2nd century?), and earlier than even “in Ephesus” was added to Eph 1:1 (upon reception of the letter by the first church to which it came, the church at Ephesus) – because in these other, similar places, the earliest witnesses do not add the words. This text thus stands as remarkable, unique. Indeed, since all the witnesses have the words, the evidence points to them as having been inserted into the original document. Who would have done such a thing? And, further, why would scribes have regarded it as original since it was obviously added in the margin? This leads to our second point. (2) Following a suggestion made by E. E. Ellis (“The Silenced Wives of Corinth (I Cor. 14:34-5),” New Testament Textual Criticism: Its Significance for Exegesis, 213-20 [the suggestion comes at the end of the article, almost as an afterthought]), it is likely that Paul himself added the words in the margin. Since it was so much material to add, Paul could have squelched any suspicions by indicating that the words were his (e.g., by adding his name or some other means [cf. 2 Thess 3:17]). This way no scribe would think that the material was inauthentic. (Incidentally, this is unlike the textual problem at Rom 5:1, for there only one letter was at stake; hence, scribes would easily have thought that the “text” reading was original. And Paul would hardly be expected to add his signature for one letter.) (3) What then is to account for the uniform Western tradition of having the verses at the end of the chapter? Our conjecture (and that is all it is) is that the scribe of the Western Vorlage could no longer read where the verses were to be added (any marginal arrows or other directional device could have been smudged), but, recognizing that this was part of the original text, felt compelled to put it somewhere. The least offensive place would have been at the end of the material on church conduct (end of chapter 14), before the instructions about the resurrection began. Although there were no chapter divisions in the earliest period of copying, scribes could still detect thought breaks (note the usage in the earliest papyri). (4) The very location of the verses in the Western tradition argues strongly that Paul both authored vv. 34-35 and that they were originally part of the margin of the text. Otherwise, one has a difficulty explaining why no scribe seemed to have hinted that these verses might be inauthentic (the scribal sigla of codex B, as noticed by Payne, can be interpreted otherwise than as an indication of inauthenticity [cf. J. E. Miller, “Some Observations on the Text-Critical Function of the Umlauts in Vaticanus, with Special Attention to 1 Corinthians 14.34-35,” JSNT 26 [2003]: 217-36.). There are apparently no mss that have an asterisk or obelisk in the margin. Yet in other places in the NT where scribes doubted the authenticity of the clauses before them, they often noted their protest with an asterisk or obelisk. We are thus compelled to regard the words as original, and as belonging where they are in the text above.

NET Notes: 1Co 14:36

¹ tn Grk “Did the word of God go out from you.”

NET Notes: 1Co 14:39

¹ tc ‡ μου (mou, “my”) is found after ἀδελφοί (adelfoi) in a number of significant witnesses (א A B* D¹ 048 326 1175 2464 al), but lacking in most other witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ B² D* F G Ψ 0243 33 1739 1881 Ï lat). Every other time Paul says “So then, brothers (and sisters)” he adds “my” (ὥστε, ἀδελφοί μου; {wste, adelfoi mou). There is no good reason why scribes would intentionally omit “my” here but not elsewhere. Thus, the longer reading is in conformity with Paul’s general style and as such seems to be scribally motivated. NA²⁷ has the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

² tn Grk “speaking in tongues.” The words “anyone from” are supplied for the sake of clarity.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:1

Follow ^{( 1 )} after charity, and desire spiritual [gifts], but rather that ye may ^{( a )} prophesy.

^{( 1 )} He infers now of what he spoke before: therefore seeing charity is the chiefest of all, before all things set it before you as chief and principal. And so esteem those things as most excellent which profit the greater part of men (such as prophecy, that is to say, the gift of teaching and applying the doctrine: which was condemned in respect of other gifts, although it is the chiefest and most necessary for the Church) and not those who for a show seem to be marvellous, as the gifts of tongues. This was when a man was suddenly endowed with the knowledge of many tongues, which made men greatly amazed and yet of itself was not greatly of any use, unless there was an interpreter.

^{( a )} What prophecy is he shows in the third verse.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:2

^{( 2 )} For he that speaketh in an [unknown] ^{( b )} tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth [him]; howbeit in the ^{( c )} spirit he speaketh mysteries.

^{( 2 )} He reprehends their perverse judgment concerning the gift of tongues. For why was it given? The answer: so that the mysteries of God might be the better known to a greater number. By this it is evident that prophecy, which the gift of tongues ought to serve, is better than this: and therefore the Corinthians judged incorrectly, in that they made more account of the gift of tongues than of prophesying: because no doubt the gift of tongues was a thing more to be bragged of. And hereupon followed another abuse of the gift of tongues, in that the Corinthians used tongues in the congregation without an interpreter. And although this thing might be done to some profit of him that spoke them, yet he corrupted the right use of that gift because there came by it no profit to the hearers. And common assemblies were instituted and appointed not for any private man's commodity, but for the profit of the whole company.

^{( b )} A strange language, which no man can understand without an interpreter.

^{( c )} By that inspiration which he has received of the Spirit, which nonetheless he abuses, when he speaks mysteries which none of the company can understand.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:3

But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men [to] ^{( d )} edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

^{( d )} Which may further men in the study of godliness.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:4

He that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the ^{( e )} church.

^{( e )} The company.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:7

^{( 3 )} And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?

^{( 3 )} He sets forth that which he said by a similitude, which he borrows and takes from instruments of music, which although they speak not perfectly, yet they are distinguished by their sounds, that they may be the better used.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:9

So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words ^{( f )} easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.

^{( f )} That fitly utter the matter itself.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:10

^{( 4 )} There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them [is] without signification.

^{( 4 )} He proves that interpretation is necessarily to be joined with the gift of tongues, by the manifold variety of languages, insomuch that if one speak to another without an interpreter, it is as if he did not speak.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:11

Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that ^{( g )} speaketh [shall be] a barbarian unto me.

^{( g )} As the papists in all their sermons, and they that ambitiously pour out some Hebrew or Greek words in the pulpit before the unlearned people, by this to get themselves a name of vain learning.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:12

^{( 5 )} Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual [gifts], seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.

^{( 5 )} The conclusion: if they will excel in those spiritual gifts, as it is proper, they must seek the profit of the church. And therefore they must not use the gift of tongues, unless there is an interpreter to expound the strange and unknown tongue, whether it is himself that speaks, or another interpreter.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:13

Wherefore let him that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue ^{( h )} pray that he may interpret.

^{( h )} Pray for the gift of interpretation.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:14

^{( 6 )} For ^{( i )} if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my ^{( k )} spirit prayeth, but my understanding is ^{( l )} unfruitful.

^{( 6 )} A reason: because it is not sufficient for us to speak so in the congregation that we ourselves worship God in spirit (that is according to the gift which we have received), but we must also be understood of the company, lest that is unprofitable to others which we have spoken.

^{( i )} If I pray, when the church is assembled together, in a strange tongue.

^{( k )} The gift and inspiration which the spirit gives me does its part, but only to myself.

^{( l )} No fruit comes to the church by my prayers.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:15

What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the ^{( m )} understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

^{( m )} So that I may be understood by others, and may instruct others.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:16

^{( 7 )} Else when thou shalt bless with the ^{( n )} spirit, how shall he that ^{( o )} occupieth the room of the unlearned say ^{( p )} Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?

^{( 7 )} Another reason: seeing that the whole congregation must agree with him that speaks, and also witness this agreement, how will they give their assent or agreement who know not what is spoken?

^{( n )} Alone, without any consideration of the hearers.

^{( o )} He that sits as a private man.

^{( p )} So then one uttered the prayers, and all the company answered "amen".

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:18

^{( 8 )} I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:

^{( 8 )} He sets himself as an example, both that they may be ashamed of their foolish ambition, and also that he may avoid all suspicion of envy.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:19

Yet in the church I had rather speak ^{( q )} five words with my understanding, that [by my voice] I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an [unknown] tongue.

^{( q )} A very few words.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:20

^{( 9 )} Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

^{( 9 )} Now he reproves those freely for their childish folly, who do not see how this gift of tongues which was given to the profit of the Church, is turned by their ambition into an instrument of cursing, seeing that this same cursing is also contained among the punishments with which God punished the stubbornness of his people, that he dispersed them amongst strangers whose language they did not understand.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:21

In the ^{( r )} law it is written, With [men of] other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.

^{( r )} By the "law" he understands the entire scripture.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:22

^{( 10 )} Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying [serveth] not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.

^{( 10 )} The conclusion: therefore the gift of tongues serves to punish the unfaithful and unbelievers, unless it is referred to prophecy (that is to say, to the interpretation of scripture) and that what is spoken is by the means of prophecy is understood by the hearers.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:23

^{( 11 )} If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in [those that are] ^{( s )} unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

^{( 11 )} Another argument: the gift of tongues without prophecy is not only unprofitable to the faithful, but also hurts very much, both the faithful as well as the unfaithful, who should be won in the public assemblies. For by this means it comes to pass that the faithful seem to others to be mad, much less can the unfaithful be instructed by it.

^{( s )} See (Act 4:13).

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:26

^{( 12 )} How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

^{( 12 )} The conclusion: the edifying of the congregation is a rule and measure of the right use of all spiritual gifts.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:27

^{( 13 )} If any man speak in an [unknown] tongue, [let it be] by two, or at the most [by] three, and [that] by course; and let one interpret.

^{( 13 )} The manner how to use the gift of tongues. It may be lawful for one or two, or at the most for three, to use the gift of tongues, one after another in an assembly, so that there is someone to expound their utterances. But if there are none to expound, let him that has the gift speak to himself alone.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:29

^{( 14 )} Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.

^{( 14 )} The manner of prophesying: let two or three propound, and let the others judge of that which is propounded, whether it is agreeable to the word of God or not. If in this examination the Lord indicates that nothing was wrong, let them give him leave to speak. Let every man be admitted to prophesy, severally and in his order, so far forth as it is required for the edifying of the church. Let them be content to be subject to each other's judgment.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:32

And the ^{( t )} spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

^{( t )} The doctrine which the prophets bring, who are inspired with God's Spirit.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:34

^{( 15 )} Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but [they are commanded] to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

^{( 15 )} Women are commanded to be silent in public assemblies, and they are commanded to ask of their husbands at home.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:36

^{( 16 )} What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?

^{( 16 )} A general conclusion of the treatise of the right use of spiritual gifts in assemblies. And this is with a sharp reprehension, lest the Corinthians might seem to themselves to be the only ones who are wise.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:37

If any man think himself to be a prophet, or ^{( u )} spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

^{( u )} Skilful in knowing and judging spiritual things.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:38

^{( 17 )} But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

^{( 17 )} The church ought not to care for those who are stubbornly ignorant, and will not abide to be taught, but to go forward nonetheless in those things which are right.

Geneva Bible: 1Co 14:39

^{( 18 )} Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.

^{( 18 )} Prophecy ought certainly to be retained and kept in congregations, and the gift of tongues is not to be forbidden, but all things must be done orderly.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Rentang Ayat

MHCC: 1Co 14:1-5

Prophesying, that is, explaining Scripture, is compared with speaking with tongues. This drew attention, more than the plain interpretation of Scripture; it gratified pride more, but promoted the purposes of Christian charity less; it would not equally do good to the souls of men. What cannot be understood, never can edify. No advantage can be reaped from the most excellent discourses, if delivered in language such as the hearers cannot speak or understand. Every ability or possession is valuable in proportion to its usefulness. Even fervent, spiritual affection must be governed by the exercise of the understanding, else men will disgrace the truths they profess to promote.

MHCC: 1Co 14:6-14

Even an apostle could not edify, unless he spoke so as to be understood by his hearers. To speak words that have no meaning to those who hear them, is but speaking into the air. That cannot answer the end of speaking, which has no meaning; in this case, speaker and hearers are barbarians to each other. All religious services should be so performed in Christian assemblies, that all may join in, and profit by them. Language plain and easy to be understood, is the most proper for public worship, and other religious exercises. Every true follower of Christ will rather desire to do good to others, than to get a name for learning or fine speaking.

MHCC: 1Co 14:15-25

There can be no assent to prayers that are not understood. A truly Christian minister will seek much more to do spiritual good to men's souls, than to get the greatest applause to himself. This is proving himself the servant of Christ. Children are apt to be struck with novelty; but do not act like them. Christians should be like children, void of guile and malice; yet they should not be unskilful as to the word of righteousness, but only as to the arts of mischief. It is a proof that a people are forsaken of God, when he gives them up to the rule of those who teach them to worship in another language. They can never be benefitted by such teaching. Yet thus the preachers did who delivered their instructions in an unknown tongue. Would it not make Christianity ridiculous to a heathen, to hear the ministers pray or preach in a language which neither he nor the assembly understood? But if those who minister, plainly interpret Scripture, or preach the great truths and rules of the gospel, a heathen or unlearned person might become a convert to Christianity. His conscience might be touched, the secrets of his heart might be revealed to him, and so he might be brought to confess his guilt, and to own that God was present in the assembly. Scripture truth, plainly and duly taught, has a wonderful power to awaken the conscience and touch the heart.

MHCC: 1Co 14:26-33

Religious exercises in public assemblies should have this view; Let all be done to edifying. As to the speaking in an unknown tongue, if another were present who could interpret, two miraculous gifts might be exercised at once, and thereby the church be edified, and the faith of the hearers confirmed at the same time. As to prophesying, two or three only should speak at one meeting, and this one after the other, not all at once. The man who is inspired by the Spirit of God will observe order and decency in delivering his revelations. God never teaches men to neglect their duties, or to act in any way unbecoming their age or station.

MHCC: 1Co 14:34-40

When the apostle exhorts Christian women to seek information on religious subjects from their husbands at home, it shows that believing families ought to assemble for promoting spiritual knowledge. The Spirit of Christ can never contradict itself; and if their revelations are against those of the apostle, they do not come from the same Spirit. The way to keep peace, truth, and order in the church, is to seek that which is good for it, to bear with that which is not hurtful to its welfare, and to keep up good behaviour, order, and decency.

Matthew Henry: 1Co 14:1-5

The apostle, in the foregoing chapter, had himself preferred, and advised the Corinthians to prefer, Christian charity to all spiritual gifts. Here he teaches them, among spiritual gifts, which they should prefer, and by what rules they should make comparison. He begins the chapter,

I. With an exhortation to charity (1Co 14:1): Follow after charity, pursue it. The original, diōkete , when spoken of a thing, signifies a singular concern to obtain it; and is commonly taken in a good and laudable sense. It is an exhortation to obtain charity, to get this excellent disposition of mind upon any terms, whatever pains or prayers it may cost: as if he had said, "In whatever you fail, see you do not miss of this; the principal of all graces is worth your getting at any rate."

II. He directs them which spiritual gift to prefer, from a principle of charity: " Desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy, or chiefly that you may prophesy."While they were in close pursuit of charity, and made this Christian disposition their chief scope, they might be zealous of spiritual gifts, be ambitious of them in some measure, but especially of prophesying, that is, of interpreting scripture. This preference would most plainly discover that they were indeed upon such pursuit, that they had a due value for Christian charity, and were intent upon it. Note, Gifts are fit objects of our desire and pursuit, in subordination to grace and charity. That should be sought first and with the greatest earnestness which is most worth.

III. He assigns the reasons of this preference. And it is remarkable here that he only compares prophesying with speaking with tongues. It seems, this was the gift on which the Corinthians principally valued themselves. This was more ostentatious than the plain interpretation of scripture, more fit to gratify pride, but less fit to pursue the purposes of Christian charity; it would not equally edify nor do good to the souls of men. For, 1. He that spoke with tongues must wholly speak between God and himself; for, whatever mysteries might be communicated in his language, none of his own countrymen could understand them, because they did not understand the language, 1Co 14:2. Note, What cannot be understood can never edify. No advantage can be reaped from the most excellent discourses, if delivered in unintelligible language, such as the audience can neither speak nor understand: but he that prophesies speaks to the advantage of his hearers; they may profit by his gift. Interpretation of scripture will be for their edification; they may be exhorted and comforted by it, 1Co 14:3. And indeed these two must go together. Duty is the proper way to comfort; and those that would be comforted must bear being exhorted. 2. He that speaks with tongues may edify himself, 1Co 14:4. He may understand and be affected with what he speaks; and so every minister should; and he that is most edified himself is in the disposition and fitness to do good to others by what he speaks; but he that speaks with tongues, or language unknown, can only edify himself; others can reap no benefit from his speech. Whereas the end of speaking in the church is to edify the church (1Co 14:4), to which prophesying, or interpreting scripture by inspiration or otherwise, is immediately adapted. Note, That is the best and most eligible gift which best answers the purposes of charity and does most good; not that which can edify ourselves only, but that which will edify the church. Such is prophesying, or preaching, and interpreting scripture, compared with speaking in an unknown tongue. 3. Indeed, no gift is to be despised, but the best gifts are to be preferred. I could wish, says the apostle, that you all spoke with tongues, but rather that you prophesied, 1Co 14:5. Every gift of God is a favour from God, and may be improved for his glory, and as such is to be valued and thankfully received; but then those are to be most valued that are most useful. Greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, unless he interpret, that the church may receive edifying, 1Co 14:5. Benevolence makes a man truly great. It is more blessed to give than to receive. And it is true magnanimity to study and seek to be useful to others, rather than to raise their admiration and draw their esteem. Such a man has a large soul, copious and diffused in proportion to his benevolence and bent of mind for public good. Greater is he who interprets scripture to edify the church than he who speaks tongues to recommend himself. And what other end he who spoke with tongues could have, unless he interpreted what he spoke, is not easy to say, Note, That makes most for the honour of a minister which is most for the church's edification, not that which shows his gifts to most advantage. He acts in a narrow sphere, while he aims at himself; but his spirit and character increase in proportion to his usefulness, I mean his own intention and endeavours to be useful.

Matthew Henry: 1Co 14:6-14

In this paragraph he goes on to show how vain a thing the ostentation of speaking unknown and unintelligible language must be. It was altogether unedifying and unprofitable (1Co 14:6): If I come to you speaking with tongues, what will it profit you, unless I speak to you by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? It would signify nothing to utter any of these in an unknown tongue. An apostle, with all his furniture, could not edify, unless he spoke to the capacity of his hearers. New revelations, the most clear explications of old ones, the most instructive discourses in themselves, would be unprofitable in a language not understood. Nay, interpretations of scripture made in an unknown tongue would need to be interpreted over again, before they could be of any use.

I. He illustrates this by several allusions. 1. To a pipe and a harp playing always in one tone. Of what use can this be to those who are dancing? If there be no distinction of sounds, how should they order their steps or motions? Unintelligible language is like piping or harping without distinction of sounds: it gives no more direction how a man should order his conversation than a pipe with but one stop or a harp with but one string can direct a dancer how he should order his steps, 1Co 14:7. 2. To a trumpet giving an uncertain sound, adēlon phōnēn , a sound not manifest; either not the proper sound for the purpose, or not distinct enough to be discerned from every other sound. If, instead of sounding on onset, it sounded a retreat, or sounded one knew not what, who would prepare for the battle? To talk in an unknown language in a Christian assembly is altogether as vain and to no purpose as for a trumpet to give no certain sound in the field or day of battle. The army in one case, and the congregation in the other, must be all in suspense, and at a perfect nonplus. To speak words that have no significancy to those who hear them is to leave them ignorant of what is spoken; it is speaking to the air, 1Co 14:9. Words without a meaning can convey no notion nor instruction to the mind; and words not understood have no meaning with those who do not understand them: to talk to them in such language is to waste our breath. 3. He compares the speaking in an unknown tongue to the gibberish of barbarians. There are, as he says (1Co 14:10), many kinds of voices in the world, none of which is without its proper signification. This is true of the several languages spoken by different nations. All of them have their proper signification. Without this they would be phōnai aphōnoi - a voice, and no voice. For that is no language, nor can it answer the end of speaking, which has no meaning. But whatever proper signification the words of any language may have in themselves, and to those who understand them, they are perfect gibberish to men of another language, who understand them not. In this case, speaker and hearers are barbarians to each other (1Co 14:11), they talk and hear only sounds without sense; for this is to be a barbarian. For thus says the polite Ovid, when banished into Pontus,

Barbarus hic ego sum, quia non intelligor ulli ,

I am a barbarian here, none understand me.

To speak in the church in an unknown tongue is to talk gibberish; it is to play the barbarian; it is to confound the audience, instead of instructing them; and for this reason is utterly vain and unprofitable.

II. Having thus established his point, in the two next verses he applies, 1. By advising them to be chiefly desirous of those gifts that were most for the church's edification, 1Co 14:12. "Forasmuch as you are zealous of spiritual gifts, this way it will become commendable zeal, be zealous to edify the church, to promote Christian knowledge and practice, and covet those gifts most that will do the best service to men's souls."This is the great rule he gives, which, 2. He applies to the matter in hand, that, if they did speak a foreign language, they should beg of God the gift of interpreting it, 1Co 14:13. That these were different gifts, see 1Co 12:10. Those might speak and understand a foreign language who could not readily translate it into their own: and yet was this necessary to the church's edification; for the church must understand, that it might be edified, which yet it could not do till the foreign language was translated into its own. Let him therefore pray for the gift of interpreting what he speaks in an unknown tongue; or rather covet and ask of God the gift of interpreting than of speaking in a language that needs interpretation, this being most for the church's benefit, and therefore among the gifts that excel; vide 1Co 14:12. Some understand it, "Let him pray so as to interpret what he utters in prayer in a language unintelligible without it."The sum is that they should perform all religious exercises in their assemblies so that all might join in them and profit by them. 3. He enforces this advice with a proper reason, that, if he prayed in an unknown tongue, his spirit might pray, that is, a spiritual gift might be exercised in prayer, or his own mind might be devoutly engaged, but his understanding would be unfruitful (1Co 14:14), that is, the sense and meaning of his words would be unfruitful, he would not be understood, nor therefore would others join with him in his devotions. Note, It should be the concern of such as pray in public to pray intelligibly, not in a foreign language, nor in a language that, if it be not foreign, is above the level of his audience. Language that is most obvious and easy to be understood is the most proper for public devotion and other religious exercises.

Matthew Henry: 1Co 14:15-20

The apostle here sums up the argument hitherto, and,

I. Directs them how they should sing and pray in public (1Co 14:15): What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, etc. He does not forbid their praying or singing under a divine afflatus, or when they were inspired for this purpose, or had such a spiritual gift communicated to them; but he would have them perform both so as to be understood by others, that others might join with them. Note, Public worship should be performed so as to be understood.

II. He enforces the argument with several reasons.

1. That otherwise the unlearned could not say Amen to their prayers or thanksgivings, could not join in the worship, for they did not understand it, 1Co 14:16. He who fills up or occupies the place of the unlearned, that is, as the ancients interpret it, the body of the people, who, in most Christian assemblies, are illiterate; how should they say Amen to prayers in an unknown tongue? How should they declare their consent and concurrence? This is saying Amen, So be it. God grant the thing we have requested; or, We join in the confession that has been made of sin, and in the acknowledgment that has been made of divine mercies and favours. This is the import of saying Amen. All should say Amen inwardly; and it is not improper to testify this inward concurrence in public prayers and devotions, by an audible Amen. The ancient Christians said Amen aloud. Vide Just. Mart. apol. 2. propè fin. Now, how should the people say Amen to what they did not understand? Note, There can be no concurrence in those prayers that are not understood. The intention of public devotions is therefore entirely destroyed if they are performed in an unknown tongue. He who performs may pray well, and give thanks well, but not in that time and place, because others are not, cannot be, edified (1Co 14:17) by what they understand not.

2. He alleges his own example, to make the greater impression, concerning which observe, (1.) That he did not come behind any of them in this spiritual gift: " I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all (1Co 14:18); not only more than any single person among you, but more than all together."It was not envy at their better furniture that made Paul depreciate what they so highly valued and so much vaunted of; he surpassed them all in this very gift of tongues, and did not vilify their gift because he had it not. This spirit of envy is too common in the world. But the apostle took care to guard against this misconstruction of his purpose, by letting them know there was more ground for them to envy him upon this head than for him to envy them. Note, When we beat down men's unreasonable value for themselves, or any of their possessions or attainments, we should let them see, if possible, that this does not proceed from an envious and grudging spirit. We miss our aim if they can fairly give our conduct this invidious turn. Paul could not be justly censured, nor suspected for any such principle in this whole argument. He spoke more language than they all. Yet, (2.) He had rather speak five words with understanding, that is, so as to be understood, and instruct and edify others, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue, 1Co 14:19. He was so far from valuing himself upon talking languages, or making ostentation of his talents of this kind, that he had rather speak five intelligible words, to benefit others, than make a thousand, ten thousand fine discourses, that would do no one else any good, because they did not understand them. Note, A truly Christian minister will value himself much more upon doing the least spiritual good to men's souls than upon procuring the greatest applause and commendation to himself. This is true grandeur and nobleness of spirit; it is acting up to his character; it is approving himself the servant of Christ, and not a vassal to his own pride and vanity.

3. He adds a plain intimation that the fondness then discovered for this gift was but too plain an indication of the immaturity of their judgment: Brethren, be not children in understanding; in malice be you children, but in understanding be men, 1Co 14:20. Children are apt to be struck with novelty and strange appearances. They are taken with an outward show, without enquiring into the true nature and worth of things. Do not you act like them, and prefer noise and show to worth and substance; show a greater ripeness of judgment, and act a more manly part; be like children in nothing but an innocent and inoffensive disposition. A double rebuke is couched in this passage, both of their pride upon account of their gifts, and their arrogance and haughtiness towards each other, and the contests and quarrels proceeding from them. Note, Christians should be harmless and inoffensive as children, void of all guile and malice; but should have wisdom and knowledge that are ripe and mature. They should not be unskilful in the word of righteousness (Heb 5:13), though they should be unskilful in all the arts of mischief.

Matthew Henry: 1Co 14:21-25

In this passage the apostle pursues the argument, and reasons from other topics; as,

I. Tongues, as the Corinthians used them, were rather a token of judgment from God than mercy to any people (1Co 14:21): In the law (that is, the Old Testament) it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak to this people; and yet for all this they will not hear me, saith the Lord, Isa 28:11. Compare Deu 28:46, Deu 28:49. To both these passages, it is thought, the apostle refers. Both are delivered by way of threatening, and one is supposed to interpret the other. The meaning in this view is that it is an evidence that a people are abandoned of God when he gives them up to this sort of instruction, to the discipline of those who speak in another language. And surely the apostle's discourse implies, "You should not be fond of the tokens of divine displeasure. God can have no gracious regards to those who are left merely to this sort of instruction, and taught in language which they cannot understand. They can never be benefited by such teaching as this; and, when they are left to it, it is a sad sign that God gives them over as past cure."And should Christians covet to be in such a state, or to bring the churches into it? Yet thus did the Corinthian preachers in effect, who would always deliver their inspirations in an unknown tongue.

II. Tongues were rather a sign to unbelievers than to believers, 1Co 14:22. They were a spiritual gift, intended for the conviction and conversion of infidels, that they might be brought into the Christian church; but converts were to be built up in Christianity by profitable instructions in their own language. The gift of tongues was necessary to spread Christianity, and gather churches; it was proper and intended to convince unbelievers of that doctrine which Christians had already embraced; but prophesying, and interpreting scripture in their own language, were most for the edification of such as did already believe: so that speaking with tongues in Christians assemblies was altogether out of time and place; neither one nor the other was proper for it. Note, That gifts may be rightly used, it is proper to know the ends which they are intended to serve. To go about the conversion of infidels, as the apostles did, had been a vain undertaking without the gift of tongues, and the discovery of this gift; but, in an assembly of Christians already converted to the Christian faith, to make use and ostentation of this gift would be perfectly impertinent, because it would be of no advantage to the assembly; not for conviction of truth, because they had already embraced it; not for their edification, because they did not understand, and could not get benefit without understanding, what they heard.

III. The credit and reputation of their assemblies among unbelievers required them to prefer prophesying before speaking with tongues. For, 1. If, when they were all assembled for Christian worship, their ministers, or all employed in public worship, should talk unintelligible language, and infidels should drop in, they would conclude them to be mad, to be no better than a parcel of wild fanatics. Who in their right senses could carry on religious worship in such a manner? Or what sort of religion is that which leaves out sense and understanding? Would not this make Christianity ridiculous to a heathen, to hear the ministers of it pray, or preach, or perform any other religious exercise, in a language that neither he nor the assembly understood? Note, The Christian religion is a sober and reasonable thing in itself, and should not, by the ministers of it, be made to look wild or senseless. Those disgrace their religion, and vilify their own character, who do any thing that has this aspect. But, on the other hand, 2. If, instead of speaking with tongues, those who minister plainly interpret scripture, or preach, in language intelligible and proper, the great truths and rules of the gospel, a heathen or unlearned person, coming in, will probably be convinced, and become a convert to Christianity (1Co 14:24, 1Co 14:25); his conscience will be touched, the secrets of his heart will be revealed to him, he will be condemned by the truth he hears, and so will be brought to confess his guilt, to pay his homage to God, and own that he is indeed among you, present in the assembly. Note, Scripture - truth, plainly and duly taught, has a marvellous aptness to awaken the conscience, and touch the heart. And is not this much more for the honour of our religion than that infidels should conclude the ministers of it a set of madmen, and their religious exercises only fits of frenzy? This last would at once cast contempt on them and their religion too. Instead of procuring applause for them, it would render them ridiculous, and involve their profession in the same censure: whereas prophesying would certainly edify the church, much better keep up their credit, and might probably convince and convert infidels who might occasionally hear them. Note, Religious exercises in Christian assemblies should be such as are fit to edify the faithful, and convince, affect, and convert unbelievers. The ministry was not instituted to make ostentation of gifts and parts, but to save souls.

Matthew Henry: 1Co 14:26-33

In this passage the apostle reproves them for their disorder, and endeavours to correct and regulate their conduct for the future.

I. He blames them for the confusion they introduced into the assembly, by ostentation of their gifts (1Co 14:26): When you come together every one hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, etc.; that is, "You are apt to confound the several parts of worship; and, while one has a psalm to utter by inspiration, another has a doctrine, or revelation;"or else, "You are apt to be confused in the same branch of worship, many of you having psalms or doctrines to propose at the same time, without staying for one another. Is not this perfect uproar? Can this be edifying? And yet all religious exercises in public assemblies should have this view, Let all things be done to edifying. "

II. He corrects their faults, and lays down some regulations for their future conduct. 1. As to speaking in an unknown tongue, he orders that no more than two or three should do it at one meeting, and this not altogether, but successively, one after another. And even this was not to be done unless there were some one to interpret (1Co 14:27, 1Co 14:28), some other interpreter besides himself, who spoke; for to speak in an unknown tongue what he himself was afterwards to interpret could only be for ostentation. But, if another were present who could interpret, two miraculous gifts might be exercised at once, and thereby the church edified, and the faith of the hearers confirmed at the same time. But, if there were none to interpret, he was to be silent in the church, and only exercise his gift between God and himself (1Co 14:28), that is (as I think) in private, at home; for all who are present at public worship should join in it, and not be at their private devotions in public assemblies. Solitary devotions are out of time and place when the church has met for social worship. 2. As to prophesying he orders, (1.) That two or three only should speak at one meeting (1Co 14:20), and this successively, not all at once; and that the other should examine and judge what he delivered, that is, discern and determine concerning it, whether it were of divine inspiration or not. There might be false prophets, mere pretenders to divine inspiration; and the true prophets were to judge of these, and discern and discover who was divinely inspired, and by such inspiration interpreted scripture, and taught the church, and who was not - what was of divine inspiration and what was not. This seems to be the meaning of this rule. For where a prophet was known to be such, and under the divine afflatus, he could not be judged; for this were to subject even the Holy Spirit to the judgment of men. He who was indeed inspired, and known to be so, was above all human judgment. (2.) He orders that, if any assistant prophet had a revelation, while another was prophesying, the other should hold his peace, be silent (1Co 14:30), before the inspired assistant uttered his revelation. Indeed, it is by many understood that the former speaker should immediately hold his peace. But this seems unnatural, and not so well to agree with the context. For why must one that was speaking by inspiration be immediately silent upon another man's being inspired, and suppress what was dictated to him by the same Spirit? Indeed, he who had the new revelation might claim liberty of speech in his turn, upon producing his vouchers; but why must liberty of speech be taken from him who was speaking before, and his mouth stopped, when he was delivering the dictates of the same Spirit, and could produce the same vouchers? Would the Spirit of God move one to speak, and, before he had delivered what he had to say, move another to interrupt him, and put him to silence? This seems to me an unnatural thought. Nor is it more agreeable to the context, and the reason annexed (1Co 14:31): That all might prophesy, one by one, or one after another, which could not be where any one was interrupted and silenced before he had done prophesying; but might easily be if he who was afterwards inspired forbore to deliver his new revelation till the former prophet had finished what he had to say. And, to confirm this sense, the apostle quickly adds, The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets (1Co 14:33); that is, the spiritual gifts they have leave them still possessed of their reason, and capable of using their own judgment in the exercise of them. Divine inspirations are not, like the diabolical possessions of heathen priests, violent and ungovernable, and prompting them to act as if they were beside themselves; but are sober and calm, and capable of regular conduct. The man inspired by the Spirit of God may still act the man, and observe the rules of natural order and decency in delivering his revelations. His spiritual gift is thus far subject to his pleasure, and to be managed by his discretion.

III. The apostle gives the reasons of these regulations. As, 1. That they would be for the church's benefit, their instruction and consolation. It is that all may learn, and all may be comforted or exhorted, that the prophets were to speak in the orderly manner the apostle advises. Note, The instruction, edification, and comfort of the church, is that for which God instituted the ministry. And surely ministers should, as much as possible, fit their ministrations to these purposes. 2. He tells them, God is not the God of confusion, but of peace and good order, 1Co 14:33. Therefore divine inspiration should by no means throw Christian assemblies into confusion, and break through all rules of common decency, which yet would be unavoidable if several inspired men should all at once utter what was suggested to them by the Spirit of God, and not wait to take their turns. Note, The honour of God requires that things should be managed in Christian assemblies so as not to transgress the rules of natural decency. If they are managed in a tumultuous and confused manner, what a notion must this give of the God who is worshipped, to considerate observers! Does it look as if he were the God of peace and order, and an enemy to confusion? Things should be managed so in divine worship that no unlovely nor dishonourable notion of God should be formed in the minds of observers. 3. He adds that things were thus orderly managed in all the other churches: As in all the churches of the saints (1Co 14:33); they kept to these rules in the exercise of their spiritual gifts, which was a manifest proof that the church of Corinth might observe the same regulations. And it would be perfectly scandalous for them, who exceeded most churches in spiritual gifts, to be more disorderly than any in the exercise of them. Note, Though other churches are not to be our rule, yet the regard they pay to the rules of natural decency and order should restrain us from breaking these rules. Thus far they may be proposed as examples, and it is a shame not to follow them.

Matthew Henry: 1Co 14:34-35

Here the apostle, 1. Enjoins silence on their women in public assemblies, and to such a degree that they must not ask questions for their own information in the church, but ask their husbands at home. They are to learn in silence with all subjection; but, says the apostle, I suffer them not to teach, 1Ti 2:11, 1Ti 2:12. There is indeed an intimation (1Co 11:5) as if the women sometimes did pray and prophecy in their assemblies, which the apostle, in that passage, does not simply condemn, but the manner of performance, that is, praying or prophesying with the head uncovered, which, in that age and country, was throwing off the distinction of sexes, and setting themselves on a level with the men. But here he seems to forbid all public performances of theirs. They are not permitted to speak (1Co 14:34) in the church, neither in praying nor prophesying. The connection seems plainly to include the latter, in the limited sense in which it is taken in this chapter, namely, for preaching, or interpreting scripture by inspiration. And, indeed, for a woman to prophesy in this sense were to teach, which does not so well befit her state of subjection. A teacher of others has in that respect a superiority over them, which is not allowed the woman over the man, nor must she therefore be allowed to teach in a congregation: I suffer them not to teach. But praying, and uttering hymns inspired, were not teaching. And seeing there were women who had spiritual gifts of this sort in that age of the church (see Act 22:9), and might be under this impulse in the assembly, must they altogether suppress it? Or why should they have this gift, if it must never be publicly exercised? For these reasons, some think that these general prohibitions are only to be understood in common cases; but that upon extraordinary occasions, when women were under a divine afflatus, and known to be so, they might have liberty of speech. They were not ordinarily to teach, nor so much as to debate and ask questions in the church, but learn in silence there; and, if difficulties occurred, ask their own husbands at home. Note, As it is the woman's duty to learn in subjection, it is the man's duty to keep up his superiority, by being able to instruct her; if it be her duty to ask her husband at home, it is his concern and duty to endeavour at lest to be able to answer her enquiries; if it be a shame for her to speak in the church, where she should be silent, it is a shame for him to be silent when he should speak, and not be able to give an answer, when she asks him at home. 2. We have here the reason of this injunction: It is God's law and commandment that they should be under obedience (1Co 14:34); they are placed in subordination to the man, and it is a shame for them to do any thing that looks like an affectation of changing ranks, which speaking in public seemed to imply, at least in that age, and among that people, as would public teaching much more: so that the apostle concludes it was a shame for women to speak in the church, in the assembly. Shame is the mind's uneasy reflection on having done an indecent thing. And what more indecent than for a woman to quit her rank, renounce the subordination of her sex, or do what in common account had such aspect and appearance? Note, Our spirit and conduct should be suitable to our rank. The natural distinctions God has made, we should observe. Those he has placed in subjection to others should not set themselves on a level, nor affect or assume superiority. The woman was made subject to the man, and she should keep her station and be content with it. For this reason women must be silent in the churches, not set up for teachers; for this is setting up for superiority over the man.

Matthew Henry: 1Co 14:36-40

In these verses the apostle closes his argument, 1. With a just rebuke of the Corinthians for their extravagant pride and self-conceit: they so managed with their spiritual gifts as no church did like them; they behaved in a manner by themselves, and would not easily endure control nor regulation. Now, says the apostle, to beat down this arrogant humour, " Came the gospel out from you? Or came it to you only? 1Co 14:36. Did Christianity come our of Corinth? was its original among you? Or, if not, is it now limited and confined to you? are you the only church favoured with divine revelations, that you will depart from the decent usages of all other churches, and, to make ostentation of your spiritual gifts, bring confusion into Christian assemblies? How intolerably assuming is this behaviour! Pray bethink yourselves."When it was needful or proper the apostle could rebuke with all authority; and surely his rebukes, if ever, were proper here. Note, Those must be reproved and humbled whose spiritual pride and self-conceit throw Christian churches and assemblies into confusion, though such men will hardly bear even the rebukes of an apostle. 2. He lets them know that what he said to them was the command of God; nor durst any true prophet, any one really inspired, deny it (1Co 14:37): " If any man think himself a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge, etc., nay, let him be tried by this very rule. If he will not own what I deliver on this head to be the will of Christ, he himself never had the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Christ can never contradict itself; if it speak in me, and in them, it must speak the same things in both. If their revelations contradict mine, they do not come from the same Spirit; either I or they must be false prophets. By this therefore you may know them. If they say that my directions in this matter are no divine commandments, you may depend upon it they are not divinely inspired. But if any continue after all, through prejudice or obstinacy, uncertain or ignorant whether they or I speak by the Spirit of God, they must be left under the power of this ignorance. If their pretences to inspiration can stand in competition with the apostolical character and powers which I have, I have lost all my authority and influence; and the persons who allow of this competition against me are out of the reach of conviction, and must be left to themselves."Note, It is just with God to leave those to the blindness of their own minds who wilfully shut out the light. Those who would be ignorant in so plain a case were justly left under the power of their mistake. 3. He sums up all in two general advices: - (1.) That though they should not despise the gift of tongues, nor altogether disuse it, under the regulations mentioned, yet they should prefer prophesying. This is indeed the scope of the whole argument. It was to be preferred to the other, because it was the more useful gift. (2.) He charges them to let all things be done decently and in order (1Co 14:40), that is, that they should avoid every thing that was manifestly indecent and disorderly. Not that they should hence take occasion to bring into the Christian church and worship any thing that a vain mind might think ornamental to it, or that would help to set it off. Such indecencies and disorders as he had remarked upon were especially to be shunned. They must do nothing that was manifestly childish (1Co 14:20), or that would give occasion to say they were mad (1Co 14:23), nor must they act so as to breed confusion, 1Co 14:33. This would be utterly indecent; it would make a tumult and mob of a Christian assembly. But they were to do things in order; they were to speak one after another, and not all at once; take their turns, and not interrupt one another. To do otherwise was to destroy the end of a Christians ministry, and all assemblies for Christian worship. Note, Manifest indecencies and disorders are to be carefully kept out of all Christian churches, and every part of divine worship. They should have nothing in them that is childish, absurd, ridiculous, wild, or tumultuous; but all parts of divine worship should be carried on in a manly, grave, rational, composed, and orderly manner. God is not to be dishonoured, nor his worship disgraced, by our unbecoming and disorderly performance of it and attendance at it.

Barclay: 1Co 14:1-19 - "THE FALSE AND THE TRUE WORSHIP"

This chapter is very difficult to understand because it deals with a phenomenon which, for most of us, is outside our experience. Throughout Paul sets two spiritual gifts in comparison with each other.

First there is speaking with tongues. This phenomenon was very common in the early Church. A man became worked up to an ecstasy and in that state poured out a quite uncontrollable torrent of sounds in no known language. Unless these sounds were interpreted, no one had any idea what they meant. Strange as it may seem to many of us, in the early Church this was a highly coveted gift. It was dangerous. For one thing, it was abnormal and was greatly admired and therefore the person who possessed it was very liable to develop a certain spiritual pride; and for another thing, the very desire to possess it produced, at least in some, a kind of self-hypnotism and deliberately induced hysteria which issued in a completely false and synthetic speaking with tongue.

Over against this speaking with tongues, Paul sets the gift of prophecy. In the translation we have not used the word prophecy, for that would have further complicated an already complicated situation. In this case, and in fact usually, it has nothing to do with foretelling the future but everything to do with forthtelling the will and the message of God. We have already said that preaching very nearly gives the meaning, but in this case we have kept the literal meaning and have translated it forthtelling.

In this whole section Paul deals with the dangers of the gift of speaking with tongues, and the superiority of the gift of forthtelling the truth in such a way that all can understand it.

We can best follow Paul's line of thought by analysing the section.

He begins by declaring that tongues are addressed to God and not to men, for men cannot understand them. If a man exercises this gift of tongues he may be enriching his own spiritual experience, but he is certainly not enriching the souls of the congregation because to them it is unintelligible; on the other hand, the gift of forthtelling the truth produces something which everyone can understand and which profits every man's soul.

Paul goes on to use certain illustrations and analogies. He is going to come to them; but if he came speaking with tongues what use would that be? They would have no idea what he was talking about. Take the case of a musical instrument. If it obeys the normal laws of harmony, it can produce a melody; but, if it does not, it produces simply a chaos of sound. Take the case of a trumpet. If it plays the correct call, it can summon men to advance, to retreat, to sleep, to wake. But if it produces simply a medley of meaningless sound, no man can know what to do. There are in this world many kinds of speech; but if two men meet each other who do not understand each other's language, the speech of each sounds like gibberish to the other and makes no sense.

Paul does not deny that the gift of tongues exists. Nor can anyone say that with him it is a case of sour grapes, for he possesses the gift more than anyone else does; but he insists that any gift to be of value must benefit the whole congregation, and therefore, if the gift of tongues is used, it is useless unless it is interpreted. Whether a man is speaking or praying or singing, he must do it not only with his spirit, but with his mind. He must know what is going on and others must be able to understand it. And so Paul reaches the blunt conclusion that in a Christian congregation it is better to speak a few intelligible sentences than to pour out a flood of unintelligible sounds.

Out of this difficult section emerge certain valuable truths.

1Co 14:3succinctly lays down the aim of all preaching. It is threefold. (i) It must aim to build up; to increase a man's knowledge of Christian truth and his ability to live the Christian life. (ii) It must aim to encourage. In every group of people there are those who are depressed and discouraged. Dreams will not come true; effort seems to have achieved so little; self-examination serves to show nothing but failures and inadequacies. Within the Christian fellowship, a man should find something to cheer his heart and nerve his arm. It was said of a certain preacher that he preached the gospel as if he were announcing a deep depression off Iceland. A service may begin by humbling a man through showing him his sin, but it is a failure unless it ends by pointing him to the grace of God that can enable him to conquer it. (iii) It must aim to comfort. "Never morning wore to evening but some heart did break." There are what Virgil called, "the tears of things." In any company of people there will always be some whom life has hurt; and within the Christian fellowship they must be able to find beauty for their ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of their heaviness.

1Co 14:5gives us the things which for Paul were the background and the substance of all preaching. (i) It comes from a direct revelation from God. No man can speak to others unless God has first spoken to him. It was said of a great preacher that ever and again he paused as if listening for a voice. We never give to men or to scholars truth which we have produced, or even discovered; we transmit truth which has been given to us. (ii) It may bring some special knowledge. No man can possibly be an expert in everything, but every man has special knowledge of something. It has been said that any man can write an interesting book if he will simply set down completely honestly all that has happened to him. The experiences of life give something special to each one of us, and the most effective preaching is simply witness to what we have found to be true. (iii) It consists of forthtelling the truth. In the early Church the first preaching given to any fellowship was a simple proclamation of the facts of the Christian story. Certain things are beyond argument. "Tell me of your certainties," said Goethe, "I have doubts enough of my own." However we may finish, it is well to begin with the facts of Christ. (iv) It goes on to teaching. There comes a time when a man has to ask, "What is the meaning of these facts?" Simply because we are thinking creatures, religion implies theology. And it may well be that the faith of many people collapses and the loyalty of many people grows cold because they have not thought things out and thought them through.

From the whole passage two broad principles regarding Christian worship emerge.

(i) Worship must never be selfish. All that is done in it must be done for the sake of all. No man in worship, whether he leads it or shares in it, has any right to direct it according to his own personal preferences. He must seek the good of the whole worshipping fellowship. The great test of any part of worship is, "Will this help everyone?" It is not, "Will this display my special gifts?" It is, "Will this bring all here nearer to each other and nearer to God?"

(ii) Worship must be intelligible. The great things are essentially the simple things; the noblest language is essentially the simplest language. In the end only what satisfies my mind can comfort my heart, and only what my mind can grasp can bring strength to my life.

Barclay: 1Co 14:20-25 - "THE EFFECTS OF FALSE AND TRUE WORSHIP"

Paul is still dealing with this question of speaking with tongues. He begins with an appeal to the Corinthians not to be childish. This passion for and over-evaluation of speaking with tongues is really a kind of childish ostentation.

Paul then finds an argument in the Old Testament. We have seen over and over again how Rabbinic exegesis--and Paul was a trained Rabbi--can find in the Old Testament hidden meanings which were certainly not originally there. He goes back to Isa 28:9-12. God, through his prophet, is threatening the people. Isaiah has preached to them in their own Hebrew language and they have not listened. Because of their disobedience, the Assyrians will come and conquer them and occupy their cities and then they will have to listen to language which they cannot understand. They will have to listen to the foreign tongues of their conquerors speaking unintelligible things; and not even that terrible experience will make an unbelieving people turn to God. So Paul uses the argument that tongues were meant for a hard-hearted and unbelieving people and were, in the end, ineffective to them.

Then he uses a very practical argument. If any stranger, or any simple person, came into a Christian assembly where everyone was pouring out a flood of unintelligible sounds, he would think that the place was a madhouse. But if the truth of God was being soberly and intelligibly proclaimed, the result would be very different. He would be brought face to face with himself and with God.

1Co 14:24-25give us a vivid summary of what happens when the truth of God is intelligibly proclaimed.

(i) It convicts a man of his sin. He sees what he is and is appalled. Alcibiades, the spoilt darling of Athens, was the friend of Socrates, and sometimes he used to say to him, "Socrates, I hate you, for every time I meet you you make me see what I am." "Come," said the woman of Samaria in shamed amazement, "see a man who told me all that I ever did." (Joh 4:29). The first thing the message of God does is to make a man realize that he is a sinner.

(ii) It brings a man under judgment. He sees that he must answer for what he has done. So far he may have lived life with no thought of its end. He may have followed the impulses of the day and seized its pleasures. But now he sees that the day has an ending, and there stands God.

(iii) It shows a man the secrets of his own heart. The last thing we face is our own hearts. As the proverb has it, "There are none so blind as those who will not see." The Christian message compels a man to that searing, humiliating honesty which will face himself.

(iv) It brings a man to his knees before God. All Christianity begins with a man on his knees in God's presence. The gateway to that presence is so low that we can enter it only upon our knees. When a man has faced God and faced himself, all that is left for him to do is to kneel and to pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

The test of any act of worship is, "Does it make us feel the presence of God?" Joseph Twitchell tells how he went to visit Horace Bushnell when Bushnell was an old man. At night Bushnell took him out for a walk on the hillside. As they walked in the dark, suddenly Bushnell said, "Let us kneel and pray," and they did. Twitchell, telling of it afterwards, said, "I was afraid to stretch out my hand in the darkness in case I should touch God." When we feel as near to God as that, we have really and truly shared in an act of worship.

Barclay: 1Co 14:26-33 - "PRACTICAL ADVICE"

Paul comes near to the end of this section with some very practical advice. He is determined that anyone who possesses a gift should receive every chance to exercise it; but he is equally determined that the services of the Church should not become a kind of competitive disorder. Only two or three are to exercise the gift of tongues, and then only if there is someone there to interpret. All have the gift of forthtelling the truth, but again only two or three are to exercise it; and if someone in the congregation has the conviction that he has received a special message, the man who is speaking must give way to him and give him the opportunity to express it. The man who is speaking can perfectly well do so, and need not say that he is carried away by inspiration and cannot stop, because the preacher is able to control his own spirit. There must be liberty but there must be no disorder. The God of peace must be worshipped in peace.

There is no more interesting section in the whole letter than this, for it sheds a flood of light on what an early church service was like. There was obviously great freedom and an informality about it. From this passage two great questions emerge.

(i) Clearly the early Church had no professional ministry. True, the apostles stood out with special authority; but at this stage there was no professional local ministry. It was open to anyone who had a gift to use it. Has the Church been right or wrong in instituting a professional ministry? Clearly it is essential that, in our busy age when men are so preoccupied with material things, one should be set apart to live close to God and to bring to his fellows the truth and the guidance and the comfort which God gives to him. But there is the obvious danger that when a man becomes a professional preacher he may sometimes be in the position of having to say something when he has really nothing to say. However that may be, it must remain true that if a man has a message to give his fellow men no ecclesiastical rules and regulations should be able to stop him giving it. It is a mistake to think that only the professional ministry can ever bring God's truth to men.

(ii) There was obviously a flexibility about the order of service in the early Church. Everything was informal enough to allow any man who felt that he had a message to give to give it. It may well be that we set far too much store on dignity and order nowadays, and have become the slaves of orders of service. The really notable thing about an early Church service must have been that almost everyone came feeling that he had both the privilege and the obligation of contributing something to it. A man did not come with the sole intention of being a passive listener; he came not only to receive but to give. Obviously this had its dangers, for it is clear that in Corinth there were those who were too fond of the sound of their own voices; but nonetheless the Church must have been in those days much more the real possession of the ordinary Christian. It may well be that the Church lost something when she delegated so much to the professional ministry and left so little to the ordinary Church member; and it may well be that the blame lies not with the ministry for annexing those rights but with the laity for abandoning them, certainly it is all too true that many Church members think far more of what the Church can do for them than of what they can do for the Church, and are very ready to criticize what is done but very unready to take any share in doing the Church's work themselves.

Barclay: 1Co 14:34-40 - "FORBIDDEN INNOVATIONS"

There were innovations threatening in the Church at Corinth which Paul did not like. In effect, he asks what right they had to make them. Were they the originators of the Christian Church? Had they a monopoly of the gospel truth? They had received a tradition and to it they must be obedient.

No man ever rose completely above the background of the age in which he lived and the society in which he grew up; and Paul, in his conception of the place of women within the Church, was unable to rise above the ideas which he had known all his life.

We have already said that in the ancient world the place of women was low. In the Greek world Sophocles had said, "Silence confers grace upon a woman." Women, unless they were very poor or very loose in their morals, led a very secluded life in Greece. The Jews had an even lower idea of women. Amongst the Rabbinic sayings there are many which belittle their place. "As to teaching the law to a woman one might as well teach her impiety." To teach the law to a woman was "to cast pearls before swine." The Talmud lists among the plagues of the world "the talkative and the inquisitive widow and the virgin who wastes her time in prayers." It was even forbidden to speak to a woman on the street. "One must not ask a service from a woman, or salute her."

It was in a society like that that Paul wrote this passage. In all likelihood what was uppermost in his mind was the lax moral state of Corinth and the feeling that absolutely nothing, must be done which would bring upon the infant Church the faintest suspicion of immodesty. It would certainly be very wrong to take these words out of their context and make them a universal rule for the Church.

Paul goes on to speak with a certain sternness. He is quite certain that, even if a man has spiritual gifts, that gives him no right to be a rebel against authority. He is conscious that the advice he has given and the rules he has laid down have come to him from Jesus Christ and his Spirit, and if a man refuses to understand them he must be left in his wilful ignorance.

So Paul draws to an end. He makes it clear that he has no wish to quench anyone's gift; the one thing he strives for is the good order of the Church. The great rule which he in effect lays down is that a man has received from God whatever gift he may possess, not for his own sake, but for the sake of the Church. When a man can say, "To God be the glory," then and only then will he use his gifts aright within the Church and outside it.

Constable: 1Co 7:1--16:13

III. Questions asked of Paul 7:1--16:12

The remainder of the body of this epistle deals with questions the Corinthians had put to Paul in a letter. Paul introduced each of these with the phrase peri de ("now concerning," 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1, 12).

"Rather than a friendly exchange, in which the new believers in Corinth are asking spiritual advice of their mentor in the Lord, their letter was probably a response to Paul's Previous Letter mentioned in 5:9, in which they were taking exception to his position on point after point. In light of their own theology of spirit, with heavy emphasis on wisdom' and knowledge,' they have answered Paul with a kind of Why can't we?' attitude, in which they are looking for his response."¹⁶⁰

Constable: 1Co 12:1--14:40

E. Spiritual gifts and spiritual people chs. 12-14

Paul had been dealing with matters related to worship since 8:1. He had forbidden the Corinthians from participating in temple meals but had allowed eating marketplace meat under certain circumstances (8:1-11:1). Then he dealt with two issues involving their own gatherings for worship: head coverings and the Lord's Supper (11:2-34). The issue of spiritual gifts (chs. 12-14) was the third issue involving their own gatherings for worship. This is the most important of the three as evidenced by the amount of text Paul devoted to it and by the issue itself. Paul explained that being "spiritual" at present, for the perfect state has not yet come (13:8-13), means to edify the church in worship.

"More than any other issue, the Corinthians and Paul are at odds over the role of the Spirit. For them Spirit' has been their entrée to life in the realm of sophia (wisdom') and gnosis (knowledge'), with their consequent rejection of the material order, both now (7:1-7) and for the future (15:12), as well as their rejection of the Christian life as modeled by Paul's imitation of Christ (4:15-21). Their experience of tongues as the language(s) of angels had allowed them to assume heavenly existence now (4:8), thought of primarily in terms of nonmaterial existence, rather than ethical-moral life in the present. Thus Paul tries to disabuse them of their singular and overly enthusiastic emphasis on tongues (the point of chaps. 12-14); but in so doing, he tries to retool their understanding of the Spirit so as to bring it into line with the gospel."²⁶⁶

Paul wanted to correct the Corinthians in this section, not just provide more teaching, as he did throughout this epistle. This becomes clear in chapter 14. They were abusing the gift of tongues. The whole section divides into three parts and structurally follows an A-B-A chiastic pattern, as do other parts of this letter (i.e., chs. 1-3; 7:25-40; chs. 8-10). First there is general instruction (ch. 12), then a theological interlude (ch. 13), and finally specific correction (ch. 14).

". . . there is not a single suggestion in Paul's response that they were themselves divided on this issue or that they were politely asking his advice. More likely, the crucial issue is their decided position over against him as to what it means to be pneumatikos (spiritual'). Their view apparently not only denied the material/physical side of Christian existence (hence the reason why chap. 15 follows hard on the heels of this section), but had an element of spiritualized (or overrealized) eschatology' as well.

"The key probably lies with 13:1, where tongues is associated with angels. As noted elsewhere (7:1-7; 11:2-16), the Corinthians seem to have considered themselves to be already like the angels, thus truly spiritual,' needing neither sex in the present (7:1-7) nor a body in the future (15:1-58). Speaking angelic dialects by the Spirit was evidence enough for them of their participation in the new spirituality, hence their singular enthusiasm for this gift."²⁶⁷

Constable: 1Co 14:1-25

4. The need for intelligibility 14:1-25

Paul went on to elaborate on the inferiority of the gift of tongues that the Corinthians elevated so they would pursue more important gifts. His point was that intelligible inspired speech (i.e., prophecy) is superior to unintelligible inspired speech (i.e., tongues) in the assembly. He argued first for intelligible speech for the sake of the believers gathered to worship (vv. 1-25). In this whole comparison Paul was dealing with the gift of tongues without the gift of the interpretation of tongues.

Constable: 1Co 14:1-5

The superiority of prophecy to tongues 14:1-5

The apostle began this discussion of tongues by comparing it to the gift of prophecy that the Corinthians also appreciated (cf. 12:10, 28; 13:8). He urged the Corinthians to value prophecy above tongues because it can edify and lead to conversion since it involves intelligible "inspired" speech.

14:1 This verse sums up what Paul had just written about love, and it resumes the thought in 12:31 by restating that exhortation. In contrast to some of the milder advice he gave in this epistle, Paul urged his readers strongly to follow the way of love. This imperative then advances the thought by urging the readers to seek the gift of prophesying in particular.

"At the end of chap. 12, where he had been speaking specifically of the gifts themselves as gracious endowments, he told them, eagerly desire the greater charismata.' Now in a context where the emphasis will be on the activity of the Spirit in the community at worship, he says, eagerly desire the things of the Spirit [ta pneumatika].'"³²³

14:2 Glossolalia by itself is not edifying to other people, but prophecy is. This statement again raises a question about what speaking in tongues involved.

On the day of Pentecost people spoke in tongues and other people who knew the languages spoken received edification because they heard of God's mighty deeds in their native languages (Acts 2:1-11). Interpreters were unnecessary on that occasion (cf. Acts 10:46; 19:6). Evidently what was taking place in the Corinthian church was different from what took place on the day of Pentecost. In Corinth, and perhaps in other early churches, people spoke in tongues among people who did not understand the languages. An interpreter was necessary for those present to understand and benefit from what the tongues-speaker was saying in a strange language (vv. 5, 13). Paul used "tongues" and "languages" interchangeably in this passage (cf. vv. 2, 10, 11, 13, et al.). This is an important proof that tongues were languages.

Some Christians have suggested another distinction. They have claimed that the tongues in Acts were foreign languages but the tongues in Corinthians were ecstatic utterances, not languages but unintelligible speech.³²⁴ There is no basis for this distinction in the biblical text, however. The terminology used is the same, and the passages make good sense if we take tongues as languages wherever they occur.³²⁵

If someone spoke in an unknown language and no one could interpret what he was saying, the person speaking was not speaking to men. God knew what he was saying even though no one else did including the person doing the speaking. In his human spirit the speaker was uttering mysteries (Gr. mysteria, things hidden or secret from the understanding of those in the church listening). Obviously Paul's concern was the edification of the church. He did not disparage the gift of tongues itself, but he put it in its rightful place.

Note, too, that Paul described the spirit as distinct from the mind (cf. vv. 14-19).

"Contrary to the opinion of many, spiritual edification can take place in ways other than through the cortex of the brain. Paul believed in an immediate communing with God by means of the S/spirit that sometimes bypassed the mind; and in vv. 14-15 he argues that for his own edification he will have both. But in church he will have only what can also communicate to other believers through their minds."³²⁶

14:3 In contrast to the foreign speech uttered by tongues-speakers, those present could understand what a prophet spoke in the language of his audience. It benefited the hearers by building them up, encouraging them, and consoling them. "Edification," "exhortation," and "consolation" set forth the primary ways in which prophecy (preaching) builds up the church. Its main purpose as a gift was not to predict events in the future but to build up believers in the present.

Official Apostles	The Twelve and the Apostle Paul
Functional (unofficial) apostles	Church planters and missionaries
Official Prophets	Communicated new revelation
Functional (unofficial) prophets	Communicated edification, exhortation, and consolation

14:4 The person who spoke in tongues in church edified himself or herself. He or she praised God and prayed to God while speaking in a tongue. He or she also benefited from realizing that the Holy Spirit was enabling him or her to speak a language that he or she had not studied. This would have encouraged the tongues-speaker, but that one did not edify himself or herself in the sense of profiting from the message the Holy Spirit had given. He did not know what his words meant unless he also had the gift of interpretation, but in this discussion Paul left that gift out of the picture almost entirely (cf. v. 5). Had he known what he was saying he could have communicated this to those present in their language. That is what a prophet did.³²⁷ Paul's point was that edifying the church is more valuable than edifying oneself. He did not deny that speaking in tongues does edify the tongues-speaker (cf. vv. 14-15, 18-19).

14:5 Paul acknowledged the value of the gift of tongues even though it also required an interpreter. Nevertheless he made it clear that the ability to prophesy was more important. The issue, again, is private versus public benefit. Since Paul depreciated speaking in tongues without interpretation so strongly, it seems very likely that this is what the Corinthians were doing in their meetings. The real issue was not a conflict between tongues and prophecy but between unintelligible and intelligible utterance.

In this whole discussion "prophecy" does not refer primarily to a prepared sermon but to an impromptu word that someone would share in a service in which congregational participation was possible.

Constable: 1Co 14:6-12

Supporting analogies 14:6-12

Paul illustrated his point that hearers do not benefit at all from what they do not understand. He used musical instruments as examples and clarified more about foreign languages.

14:6 This verse sets the scene for what follows in this pericope. "Revelation," "knowledge," "prophecy," and "teaching" are all intelligible utterances. These words probably refer to a new revelation (cf. 12:8), an insight into truth, a word of edification, exhortation, or consolation from the Lord (v. 3), or instruction in the faith.

14:7-8 Even the sounds people make using inanimate musical instruments need to be intelligible to profit anyone. This is especially obvious in the case of a call to battle. If the bugler blows a confused tune, the army will not know whether to attack or retreat. The harp and the flute, as well as the bugle, were commonplace in the Greco-Roman world.

14:9 Incomprehensible speech may be personally satisfying to the one talking, but it profits only a little those who are listening. The only profit would be entertainment. For example, when an international student sings a song in his or her native language in chapel, almost everyone enjoys the song but does not receive edification from it.

14:10-11 Clearly Paul was speaking about languages, not gibberish, even though the Greek word translated "languages" (phone) means "sounds" or "voices." The context shows he had languages in mind, either human or angelic. A non-Greek was a foreigner (Gr. barbaros, barbarian) to a Greek. The word barbaros is onomatopoetic, meaning the foreigner's language sounded like so much "bar bar bar" to the Greek. Paul's point was that for communicating, the tongues-speaker who did not have an interpreter was no better than an incomprehensible barbarian. Even though his speech has meaning to the speaker, it has none to the hearers.

I enjoy watching and listening to an opera occasionally. I like to listen to the music for its own beauty even if I cannot understand the words. However, when the foreign words being sung are translated into English with captions above the stage or on the screen, I enjoy it even more. I also profit from learning from the story, which I cannot do if all I take away from the performance is the memory of beautiful sounds.

14:12 In view of this the Corinthians who were zealous for spiritual gifts would be better off pursuing the gifts that would enable them to build up the church. They should value these rather than the gifts that gave them some personal satisfaction when they exercised them but did not edify others. The Corinthians were zealots when it came to spirits (Gr. pneumaton). The translators interpreted this word as synonymous with pneumatikon (spiritual gifts, v. 1), but it is different. Probably Paul meant that they were zealous over a particular manifestation of the Spirit, what they considered the mark of a "spiritual" Christian, namely the gift of tongues (cf. vv. 14-15, 32).

"Utterances that are not understood, even if they come from the Spirit, are of no benefit, that is, edification, to the hearer. Thus, since they have such zeal for the manifestation of the Spirit, they should direct that zeal in corporate worship away from being foreigners' to one another toward the edification of one another in Christ."³²⁸

Constable: 1Co 14:13-19

Application in view of believers 14:13-19

Paul continued his argument by clarifying the effect that unintelligible speech has on believers gathered for worship.

14:13 The Corinthian who already had the gift of tongues should ask the Lord for the ability to interpret his or her utterances so the whole church could benefit from them (cf. v. 5). Note that Paul never said they should abandon this gift, but their practice of it needed correcting.

14:14 Public prayer is in view here, as it is in this whole chapter (v. 16), but some may have been praying in tongues privately as well. While praying in a tongue might give the person doing so a certain sense of exultation in his spirit, his mind would not benefit. He would not know what he was saying. The "spirit" (Gr. pneuma) seems to refer to that part of the person that exercises this spiritual gift. It is separate from the mind obviously (cf. v. 4). The person's spirit prays as the Holy Spirit gives him or her utterance.

14:15 Paul advocated praising and praying to God with both the spirit (emotions) and the mind (understanding).³²⁹ One reason tongues is an inferior gift is that in it the reason has no control.

Sometimes modern Christians who believe they have the gift of tongues wonder if they should speak in tongues in private even though they do not know what they are saying. Some of them claim that doing so edifies them (v. 4). Let us assume they are speaking some language that they have not studied, which is what the tongues-speakers in the early church were speaking. This, by the way, eliminates most modern tongues-speakers since most modern tongues-speakers simply repeat gibberish.³³⁰ Paul did not discourage speaking unknown languages in private. Nonetheless the relative value and profitability of such an experience are so minimal that its practice seems almost foolish in view of the more edifying options that are open to Christians. Perhaps the current preoccupation with feeling good, in contrast to having to work hard with one's mind to edify the church, is what make this practice so attractive to many today.

"It is, of course, impossible for anyone to prove experimentally that speaking in tongues cannot occur today. It may be demonstrated, however, that speaking in tongues is not essential to God's purpose now, and that there are good reasons to believe that most if not all the phenomena which are advanced as proof of modern speaking in tongues is either psychological or demonic activity."³³¹

14:16-17 Paul used the word "bless" for pray here. When we praise God in prayer we say a benediction on Him, a word of blessing. Those believers (Gr. idiotes) who do not understand what the person praying in tongues is saying are unable to add their affirmation at the end of the prayer. "Amen" means "so be it." Whenever we lead in public prayer we should do it so the other people praying can join us and affirm our words. It is clear in verse 16 that Paul was speaking about a public worship situation. Giving thanks in public worship is important even if no one else joins in, but it is even more important that other believers can join in.

14:18-19 Corinthian tongues-enthusiasts could not reject Paul's instruction because he did not have the gift himself and so failed to appreciate its value. He believed in the validity of the gift but did not value it highly.³³² He almost deprecated it. Edifying instruction was 10,000 times more important than personal private exultation for the building up of the church gathered for worship. The edification of the body is, of course, God's great purpose for Christians today (Matt. 16:18).

Paul affirmed the gift that the Corinthians apparently regarded as the sign of genuine spirituality, but he did so by correcting their thinking about what was really important in their meetings. Worship should never be selfish, but it should always be intelligible.³³³

Constable: 1Co 14:20-25

Application in view of unbelievers 14:20-25

Uninterpreted tongues did not benefit visiting unbelievers any more than they edified the believers in church meetings. Prophecy, on the other hand, benefited both groups.

14:20 Thinking that tongues-speaking demonstrates spirituality evidences immaturity.

"Children prefer what glitters and makes a show to what is much more valuable; and it was childish to prefer ecstatic utterance to other and far more useful gifts."³³⁴

There is a sense in which it is good for Christians to be childlike, namely in our innocence regarding evil. Still in understanding, we need to be mature (cf. 3:1-2). The Corinthians were not innocent in their behavior any more than they were mature in their thinking.

14:21 The Law refers to the Old Testament here since the passage Paul cited is Isaiah 28:11-12. The context of this passage is the Israelites' refusal to accept Isaiah's warnings concerning the coming Assyrian invasion. God said because they refused to listen to the prophet's words He would "teach" them by using their foreign-speaking invading enemy. Nevertheless even then, God said, they would not repent. Isaiah preached repentance to the Israelites in their own language, but they did not repent. Then God brought the invading Assyrians into Israel. Still His people did not repent even though God "spoke" to them of their need to repent by allowing them to hear the foreign language of this enemy.

14:22 The "then" in this verse anticipates what is to come rather than drawing a conclusion from what has preceded.

Tongues-speaking in the church signified to visiting unbelievers that the Christians were mad (v. 23).³³⁵ Prophecy signified to the believers that God was present and speaking.

14:23 Paul painted a picture of the Corinthian church assembled and engaged in a frenzy of unintelligible tongues-speaking. Two types of individuals walk in. One is a believer untaught in the matter of spiritual gifts and the other is an unbeliever. To both of them the worshippers appear to be insane rather than soberly engaged in worship and instruction. The church meeting would resemble the meetings of a mystery cult in which such mania was common.

"It was strange that what the Corinthians specially prided themselves on was a gift which, if exercised in public, would excite the derision of unbelievers."³³⁶

14:24-25 If, on the other hand, the church was practicing prophesying and was receiving instruction, both visitors would gain a positive impression from the conduct of the believers. More importantly, what the prophets said would also convict them (cf. 2:14-15). Paul's description of their response came from Isaiah 45:14 (cf. Zech. 8:23) and contrasts with the unresponsiveness of the Israelites to messages God sent them in foreign languages. Prophecy would result in the repentance of visiting unbelievers, but tongues-speaking would not. These verses summarize the effects of good Christian preaching on unbelievers.

"The gift of prophesying, however successful, is no glory to the possessor of it. It is the Spirit of God, not the preacher's own power, that works the wonderful effect."³³⁷

Paul did not mean that every individual in the church would either speak in tongues or prophesy (cf. v. 23). He meant that if one of those gifts dominated to the exclusion of the other the stated results would normally follow.

"The Corinthians tend to shut their ears to prophecy because they gain more satisfaction from listening to tongues than from hearing their faults exposed and their duties pointed out in plain rational language."³³⁸

Paul permitted only intelligible utterances when the church gathered for worship because they edify believers and bring the lost to conviction of their need for salvation.

Constable: 1Co 14:26-40

5. The need for order 14:26-40

The Corinthians' public worship practices not only failed to be edifying and convicting, but they also involved disorderly conduct. Paul proceeded to deal with this additional need to help his readers value these qualities over the pseudo spirituality that they associated with glossolalia.

Constable: 1Co 14:26-33

The ordering of these gifts 14:26-33

The apostle now began to regulate the use of tongues with interpretation, and he urged the use of discernment with prophecy.

"St Paul has here completed his treatment (xii.--xiv.) of pneumatika. He now gives detailed directions as to their use."³³⁹

14:26 The apostle did not want any one gift to dominate the meetings of this richly gifted church. Again his list of utterance gifts was limited and selective. Many Christians could make a variety of contributions to the general spiritual welfare of the congregation. He permitted the use of tongues but not their exclusive use and only if someone provided an interpretation (v. 27).

"That many in Corinth exercised their gifts in the interests of self-development and even of self-display can hardly be doubted; this was contrary to the law of love which regulates all Christian behaviour."³⁴⁰

14:27-28 Paul laid down three guidelines for the use of tongues in public worship. First, the believers should permit only two or at the most three interpreted tongues messages. This is in harmony with the inferior contribution that tongues make compared with prophecy. Second, the speakers should give them consecutively rather than concurrently to minimize confusion. The Spirit does not overpower the speaker but is subject to the speaker, and the Spirit leads speakers to contribute in appropriate times and ways. The Spirit's leading of the Old Testament prophets to speak at appropriate times and settings illustrates this. Third, the Christians should not allow tongues without interpretation in the church services, though Paul did permit private tongues-speaking (vv. 2, 4, 27). However remember that tongues were languages, and Paul valued private tongues-speaking quite low (vv. 2, 10, 11, 13, 14, et al.).

14:29 Likewise the prophets should minister in an orderly fashion and limit themselves to two or three messages at a service. The others in the congregation (not just other prophets) should pay attention to what they said. The Greek word diakrino means "pass judgment" (NASB) or "weigh carefully" (NIV). In 12:10 it reads "distinguish." Here it probably means to evaluate carefully and, if need be, to reject if the ministry was not in harmony with Scripture.

"The apostle does not instruct the churches to sort out the true and false elements in any particular prophecy. Rather, he instructs them to sort out the true and false prophecies among the many they would hear."³⁴¹

14:30-31 Here we seem to have an example of two of the different kinds of prophesying that took place in the early church conflicting with each other. What Paul seems to have envisioned was one person--men and women could prophesy in this sense (11:4-5)--sharing a word from the Lord. This type of prophesying was open to almost anyone in the church. While this person was speaking, another prophet received a revelation from the Lord. This appears to be a more direct revelation than just the desire to address the congregation that had moved the first speaker to minister. In such a case the first speaker was to give preference to the person making the new revelation. Presumable the first speaker would finish what he was saying later.

"There was obviously a flexibility about the order of service in the early Church which is now totally lacking. . . . Everything was informal enough to allow any man who felt that he had a message to give to give it.

14:32-33 Prophets were to control themselves when speaking, even when giving new revelation (cf. vv. 27-28). The nature of this gift was that it did not sweep the prophet into a mindless frenzy. Pagans who received demonic revelations frequently lost control of themselves. Inability to control oneself was no evidence that the prophet spoke from God. On the contrary, it indicated that he was not submitting to God's control because God produces peace, not confusion.

"The theological point is crucial: the character of one's deity is reflected in the character of one's worship. The Corinthians must therefore cease worship that reflects the pagan deities more than the God whom they have come to know through the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 12:2-3). God is neither characterized by disorder nor the cause of it in the assembly."³⁴²

Again the apostle reminded his readers that what he was commanding was standard policy in the other churches (cf. 1:2; 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:36). This reminds us again that this church had some serious underlying problems.

Confusion and disorder in church services are not in keeping with the character of God and so dishonor Him.

Constable: 1Co 14:34-35

The ordering of the women 14:34-35

Paul had formerly acknowledged that women could share a word from the Lord in the church meetings (11:4-16). Now he clarified one point about their participation in this context of prophesying.

14:34 The word translated "silent" (Gr. sige) means just that, namely to keep silent or to hold one's peace. However in 11:5 Paul spoke as though women prophesying in the church was a common and acceptable practice. I think the best explanation of this apparent contradiction comes out of the context, as is usually true. Paul had just permitted others in the congregation to evaluate the comments that a prophet made (v. 29). Now he qualified this by saying the women should not to do so vocally in the church meetings as the men could. The teaching of the Law on this subject appears to be a reference to woman's subordination to the authoritative man in her family (Gen. 3:16). The "Law" then would refer to the Old Testament, as in verse 21.

14:35 Rather than calling out a question in the middle of some male or female prophet's message, a woman was to wait and ask her husband about it at home after the service. Presumably unmarried women would ask their fathers or some other man in the church after the service. Men could raise questions or make comments, but too much of this could ruin the order of the service and the edifying value of the message. Consequently Paul asked the women, evidently because of their natural position of subordination, to refrain. It is improper for a woman to speak in church meetings in the situation Paul addressed in the context. That situation is the questioning and perhaps challenging of what a prophet said who was sharing something he or she believed God had given him or her to pass on to the church.³⁴³

There have been many other explanations of this apparent contradiction. Richard Lenski assumed that all of what Paul said in 14:26-32 applies only to men and that he added verses 33-36 as an appendix to deal with women's participation.³⁴⁴ However this does not harmonize with 11:4-5. William Barclay believed at this point Paul was not able to rise above the spirit of his age that said women should not participate in intellectual activities on a par with men.³⁴⁵ This view fails to appreciate the implications of Paul's inspiration by the Spirit as he wrote as well as his high regard for women that he expressed elsewhere in his writings. G. Campbell Morgan seems to have regarded Paul's prohibition as necessary in view of conditions unique in Corinth.³⁴⁶ C. K. Barrett believed Paul did not write verses 34-35. He presumed some other person added them to the text later when Christians thought good order was more important than the freedom of the Spirit.³⁴⁷ Gordon Fee also argued that these verses are inauthentic.³⁴⁸ Harry Ironside believed the occasions at which women could speak were different from the official meetings of the church at which they were to be silent.³⁴⁹ David Lowery wrote that Paul wanted the married women whose husbands were present in the meeting to be silent, but that other women could speak if properly covered.³⁵⁰ S. Lewis Johnson, Jr., seems to have felt women could never speak in the church meetings except when they prayed or prophesied.³⁵¹ H. Wayne House concluded women could not speak if others considered what they said was authoritative.³⁵² Anne Blampied said Paul told the women to keep silent because they were violating the principle of order in the church, not because they were women.³⁵³

The most common view is that Paul forbade some form of inappropriate speech, not all speech.³⁵⁴ The second most popular interpretation is that Paul forbade some form of "inspired" speech other than prophecy, perhaps contradicting the prophets or speaking in tongues.

"Paul's long response to the Corinthians' enthusiasm for tongues is now finished. The basic issue is over what it means to be pneumatikos (spiritual'); and on this issue Paul and they are deeply divided. They think it has to do with speaking in tongues, the language(s) of the angels, the sure evidence that they are already living in the pneumatic existence of the future. For this reason they have great zeal for this gift (cf. v. 12), including an insistence on its practice in the gathered assembly. Apparently in their letter they have not only defended this practice, but by the same criterion have called Paul into question for his lack of spirituality.' Hence the undercurrent of apologetic for his own speaking in tongues in vv. 6, 15, and 18.

"Paul's response to all this has been twofold. First, they are to broaden their perspective to recognize that being Spirit people by its very nature means a great variety of gifts and ministries in the church (chap. 12). Second, the whole point of the gathered people of God is edification, the true expression of love for the saints. Whatever they do in the assembly must be both intelligible and orderly so that the whole community may be edified; thus it must reflect the character of God, which is how it is (or is to be) in all the churches of the saints (v. 33)."³⁵⁵

Constable: 1Co 14:36-40

Concluding confrontation 14:36-40

Paul concluded his answer to the Corinthians' question concerning spiritual gifts (chs. 12-14) and his teaching on tongues (ch. 14) with a strong call to cooperation. He zeroed in on their individualism (v. 36; cf. v. 33) and confronted them on the issue of who indeed was spiritual (v. 37). As a prophet of old he warned anyone who disagreed with his instructions (v. 38) and finally summarized his argument (vv. 39-40; cf. 4:18-21).

14:36 In this verse Paul reminded the Corinthians that they did not set the standard for how the church meetings should proceed. Their arrogance evidently drew this warning. The Corinthian church was not the mother church nor was it the only church to which the gospel had come (cf. 11:16; 14:33b). Therefore the Corinthian readers should submit to the apostle's direction (cf. 9:1-23).

14:37 Anyone could easily validate a Corinthian's claim to being a prophet or spiritual. He could do so by seeing if he or she acknowledged that what Paul had written was authoritative because he was an apostle of the Lord. Submission to apostolic authority was the test, not speaking in tongues. Submissiveness to the apostles and their teaching was an expression of submission to the Lord Himself (cf. 7:10, 25). It still is.

14:38 The Corinthians should not recognize as a prophet or as a person under the control of the Holy Spirit anyone who refused to acknowledge the apostle's authority. Failure to recognize the Lord as the source of Paul's teaching would lead to that person's failure to be recognized (i.e., acknowledged with approval) by the Lord (cf. 8:2-3)

14:39 "Therefore" signals a summation of the entire argument on spiritual gifts. "My brethren" sounds a loving note at the end of this very stern discussion (cf. 1:10). "Desire earnestly to prophesy" repeats the imperative with which Paul began (v. 1). "Do not forbid to speak in tongues" concedes the legitimacy of their favorite gift. Paul heartily encouraged the exercise of the gift of prophecy, but he only permitted the gift of speaking in tongues with certain qualifiers.

As time passed, God no longer gave prophets revelations concerning the future. The apostle John was evidently the last person to function as a prophet in this sense (cf. Rev. 22:18). They also no longer received new revelation from the Lord. We can see this passing away even during the history of the church that Luke recorded in Acts. Much of the revelation contained in the books of the New Testament was of this type. In this sense the gift of prophecy was foundational to the establishment of the church and has ceased (Eph. 2:20). Nevertheless people continued to speak forth messages from the Lord, the basic meaning of the Greek word propheteuo (to prophesy). In the more general sense this gift is still with us today (cf. v. 3).

Paul said his readers were not to forbid speaking in tongues. He meant they were not to do so provided they followed the rules he had just explained for the exercise of the gift. Certainly if someone has the New Testament gift of tongues, he or she should observe these rules today as well. However, many Christians seriously doubt that anyone has this gift today. Christians involved in the charismatic movement believe the gift does exist today. Nevertheless the differences between tongues-speaking as practiced today and what took place in first century churches has led most believers to conclude that these are very different experiences.

14:40 The foundational principles that should underlie what takes place in church meetings are these. Christians should do everything in a decent and orderly manner, everything should be edifying (v. 26), and a spirit of peace should prevail (v. 33).

This chapter on speaking in tongues is extremely relevant because of current interest in the charismatic gifts of the Spirit. If believers followed the teaching in this chapter alone, even in charismatic churches, there would be far less confusion in the church over this subject.

"In these three chapters (xii.--xiv.) the Apostle has been contending with the danger of spiritual anarchy, which would be the result if every Christian who believed that he had a charisma were allowed to exercise it without consideration for others."³⁵⁶

College: 1Co 14:1-40

1 CORINTHIANS 14

D. GIFTS OF PROPHECY AND TONGUES (14:1-25)

1. Tongues and Prophecy Compared (14:1-5)

¹ Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. ² For anyone who speaks in a tongue ^a does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. ^{b 3} But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. ⁴ He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, ^c unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.

^a 2 Or another language ; also in verses 4, 13, 14, 19, 26 and 27 ^b 2 Or by the spirit ^c 5 Or other languages ; also in verses 6, 18, 22, 23 and 39

14:1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

A few observations are in order as one moves into this new chapter. Even though 14:1 is linked to 12:1 by the common use of the plural adjective pneumatikav ( pneumatika , spiritual things), Paul has clearly narrowed his focus. The gifts of tongues and prophecy are easily lost in the larger cluster of gifts enumerated in 12:4-10 and 12:28-30. By the time Paul has carried forward his argument through chapter 13, the list of gifts has shrunk so that tongues and prophecy are a bit more prominent (cf. 13:1-3, 8-12). With chapter 14, however, there can be no doubt that Paul is now ready to focus intently on the gifts of tongues and prophecy. Paul's term for tongues (glw'ssai, glôssai) is found approximately twenty times in 1 Corinthians and fifteen of these are in this one chapter. When one looks at the issue of prophecy the evidence is equally stark. The verb "to prophesy" (profhteuvw, prophçteuô) occurs eleven times in 1 Corinthians with eight of these found in chapter 14.

It is universally acknowledged that in this chapter Paul is dealing with the misuse of these two gifts in the congregational setting of the church of God at Corinth. A clear indication of this is the dramatic increase in the frequency of the Greek word ejkklhsiva (ekklçsia) in 1 Cor 14, a word which points to a congregational assembly. This word occurs three times in ch. 11, once in ch. 12, no occurrences in ch. 13, and nine occurrences in ch. 14.

The weight of Paul's response to the abuses in the assembly falls clearly on tongue speaking. The apostle's preference throughout this chapter is for the priority of prophecy (e.g., 14:39). In light of the Corinthian situation, which is virtually the only place Paul treats these two gifts at length, Paul is patently an advocate of prophecy and tolerant toward tongues (see 14:5). No doubt the apostle's statements about the lesser value of tongues would have been more irenic and encouraging to tongue speakers had the situation not been so deleterious. If the number and frequency of Paul's use of imperatives is any indication of the depth and breadth of this problem, then the issues of 1 Cor 14 are not insignificant to Paul.

The apostle clearly has no interest in outlawing tongues in general, but he does want to demonstrate emphatically what the inadequacies of tongue speaking are (as practiced by the Corinthians) and why for very practical reasons he promotes prophecy over tongues.

14:2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.

Time and again the apostle will explain his overriding preference for prophecy and his displeasure with the Corinthian tongue speakers. The use of the word "for" (gavr, gar ) leads into one such explanation. Since corporate worship is an important and natural part of the life of believers, Paul is sensitive to the horizontal dimension of activities in the assembly of the saints. Since tongue speaking is vertically directed to God rather than horizontally addressed to men, it is totally inappropriate for ekklçsia (assembly) worship. Moreover, since it is addressed to God, it is unintelligible to humans. The tongue speaker is speaking mysteries (musthvria, mystçria) with his spirit, a phenomenon with little value for others within earshot.

14:3 But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.

By contrast, the prophet directs his message toward other people at church and thereby contributes to their strengthening, encouragement, and comfort. Of the three items which Paul lists as coming from the words of the prophet, the first is the most dominant in 1 Corinthians. The concept of strengthening is based upon the Greek term oijkodomhv (oikodomç) and its cognates, which occurs seven times in this chapter (vv. 3, 4 Χ], 5, 12, 17, 26). While this concept has a variety of usages in the Pauline letters, in this setting it is tightly related to an ethical consideration. The apostle has obviously designated prophecy as the ethical high ground since it is the prescribed manifestation of the pursuit of love (esp. 14:1). Based upon Lev 19:18 Pauline theology sets love of neighbor at center stage (cf. Rom 13:8-10) and realizes that a concrete manifestation of this love of neighbor (cf. 1 Cor 13:7) is actions that promote the strengthening of one's fellow believer. This connection between oikodomç and love for others is made clear by the use of oikodomç in particular ethical situations among believers such as those depicted in Rom 14:19 and 15:2. What Paul has done, probably to the dismay of tongue speakers, is normalized agapç for liturgical practices at Corinth and made oikodomç into the essential criterion for acceptable worship assemblies.

Encouragement and comfort are two additional concepts which are part and parcel of the Spirit's activity through prophetic activity among believers. Encouragement is mentioned numerous times in 2 Corinthians as an attribute and activity of God (noun paravklhsi", paraklçsis, 2 Cor 1:3-7), while the verb form (parakalevw, parakaleô) is used of prophetic activity in 1 Cor 14:31. The term for "comfort" (paramuqiva, paramythia ) is found only here in the New Testament, though cognates are used by Paul in Phil 2:1 and 1 Thess 2:12 and 5:14.

14:4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

Paul acknowledges that a form of edification occurs during unacceptable tongue speaking. Lamentably, this is self-edification which is of no value for the whole. Once again the prophetic ministry is preferable in this setting since it seeks the good of others and edifies the assembled church.

14:5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.

In this verse the apostle maintains the superiority of prophecy over tongues by a rhetorical statement that only apparently promotes tongue speaking. Given the realities of the assemblies of saints at Corinth, and this is the background for Paul's directives, there is no way that Paul can give an unqualified affirmation of tongue speaking. Accordingly, he once again prefers prophecy over tongues based upon the criterion of edification.

There is an exegetical debate regarding how to understand Paul's use of the phrase "every one of you" (pavnta" uJma'", pantas hymas ). Since he has earlier ruled out the notion that every believer speaks in tongues (see 12:29-30) and since he will shortly limit the number of tongue speakers at an assembly to three (14:27-28), it seems quite improbable that he wants all the believers at Corinth to acquire the gift of tongues. Either the church at Corinth is incredibly smaller than any scholar ever imagined or, equally implausible, Paul wants them to acquire a gift they can rarely employ.

The very practical nature of Paul's evaluation of tongues and prophecy is evident in the "unless he interprets" phrase. Paul teaches by this that the tongue speaker will no longer have the lesser gift if, in fact, he also can interpret his tongues and thereby edify the assembly (cf. 14:13). If the practical benefit of tongues (edification) becomes the same as prophecy, then tongues, though not identical with the gift of prophecy, would receive increased praise from Paul.

2. Tongues and Clarity (14:6-12)

⁶ Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? ⁷ Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? ⁸ Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. ¹¹ If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. ¹² So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.

14:6 Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?

In commenting upon 14:6ff D.A. Carson correctly observed that, "Paul introduced the question of intelligibility; now he stresses and enlarges upon it." Paul reverts (14:6, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19) again to the use of the first person (autobiographical) style to provide a rhetorical buffer to the criticism he is giving to the tongue speakers (see notes on 13:1-3).

Paul affirms again that the current Corinthian practice of tongue speaking, that is, without interpretation, is of no value to the other saints. The apostle then lists, for the sake of contrast, four examples of spiritual gifts which do have value for fellow believers in the assembly. This list of four items both builds upon gifts already mentioned in chapters 12 and 13 and anticipates the similar list given at 14:26.

Generally speaking Paul did not confine the reception of divine revelation only to apostles (cf. 1 Cor 2:10; 14:26, 30; Eph 1:17, 3:5; Phil 3:15) or to periods of corporate worship (Eph 1:17; 3:5; Phil 3:15). The idea of divine knowledge (gnw'si", gnôsis) was introduced by Paul earlier with the phrase "word of knowledge" (1 Cor 12:8) and "all knowledge" (1 Cor 13:2). Just like the mention of revelation, the mention of knowledge is appropriate here since it is intelligible and does not require interpretation. The manifestation of prophecy and its inherent intelligibility is central to the argument of this entire chapter. In an earlier reference to God's arrangement of offices in the church, Paul lists teachers as third (12:28) and observed that all believers should not expect to be teachers (12:29). Paul now mentions the related idea of teaching (NIV "word of instruction"). The NIV's translation decision obscures the possible connection in Paul's theology between the gift of teachers (didavskalo", didaskalos ) and the gift of teaching (didachv, didachç), by rendering the latter by the phrase "word of instruction." In 14:6 the apostle clearly has in mind the content of the teaching and not the activity of teaching per se. The modern reader would do well, in my judgment, to remember the verbal connection between the ideas of 12:28-29 (teachers) and the gift of bringing a teaching (14:6, 26) before the congregation.

14:7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes?

The apostle now uses an illustration from everyday life to underscore the significance of intelligibility. The two lifeless things he employs in his illustration are the flute and the harp, common wind and stringed instruments of the Greco-Roman world. Fee rightly interprets Paul's point when he observes, "The analogy is clear. Tongues, Paul is arguing, is like the harpist running fingers over all the strings, making musical sounds but not playing a pleasing melody. . . ."

As 14:9a makes explicit, this and the following illustrations are given to apply directly to the ecclesiastical problem of uninterpreted tongues. The apostle Paul is not, like later Church Fathers and Hellenistic Jewish authors, using the illustration of a musician playing on a passive instrument to explain how miraculous gifts, especially the mechanics of the inspiration of Scripture, should be understood.

14:8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?

Another illustration toward the same point is given with the sound of the battle trumpet. If the notes played are inappropriate, not clear, or generally unintelligible, how can soldiers prepare for combat?

14:9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.

With his reference to the Corinthian readers in 14:9a, Paul makes clear application of his metaphors and illustrations from the world of musical instruments. If the other Corinthians who are not tongue speakers are subjected to a concert of cacophonous and unintelligible tongue speaking, how will they know what is being said? As a consequence, how can they be edified? The idea of speaking into the air is the apostle's way of contrasting the value of speech which is edifying with that which is unintelligible.

14:10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.

Paul now turns from the illustrations of musical instruments, lifeless metaphors, to illustrations that come from human speech. The phrase "all sorts of languages" refers to the numerous languages known about in the Greco-Roman world. Paul does not use here the well known word glw'ssai (glôssai) for languages since in this section glôssai is the term he uses for speaking in tongues (12:10, 30; 13:1; 14:2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 18, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 39). The term rendered "languages" is from fwnhv (phônç). This word serves as a verbal thread that links together several of Paul's illustrations in this section since its broader meaning is "sound" (cf. 14:7, 8, 11). Paul is obviously referring to human languages and stating the obvious, just as he had regarding lifeless instruments, namely, all languages have intended meaning.

It would be pressing the details of Paul's language illustration too hard to suggest that he is indicating that tongues are foreign languages. As Witherington noted on this section, "It does not follow from this that he thought of tongues as simply another foreign language. He is thinking of the analogous effect of listening to a completely unknown foreign language."

14:11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.

This commonplace illustration would ring true to all denizens of a city such as Corinth. Even though the Greek language was the lingua franca of Paul's world, the Mediterranean world was a polyglot region where one could encounter any number of individuals who spoke a non-Greek language. This fact is evident in the numerous languages found in the ancient archaeological record of papyri and inscriptions (cf. Acts 14:11).

14:12 So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.

This is the second time Paul has used this phrase "So it is with you" in this section (cf. 14:9). He is once again applying the implications of the preceding verses to the abusing tongue speakers. The nuance of the Greek words rendered "you are eager to have spiritual gifts" is sometimes overlooked in commentaries. What, in fact, Paul wrote was, "you are desirous of spirits" (zhlwtaiÉ pneumavtwn, zçlôtai pneumatôn, eager for spirits). This observation by the apostle Paul is one of those explicit comments, plastered over in translations, that highlight the pagan and idolatrous spirituality that was still misleading certain Corinthian believers in their understanding and practice of spiritual gifts (see notes on 12:1-3). Paul, in my judgment, is alluding to an animistic perspective that still has a hold on some of the Corinthian saints and which leads them to associate the supernatural spiritual gifts with the activity of various spirits.

This conclusion is not to reduce Corinthian tongue speaking to some Hellenistic phenomenon that is the Christian clone of pagan oracles and ecstatic piety. Nevertheless, it is indefensible to doubt (as some scholars do) that certain young pagan converts in a young church, the majority of whose problems are directly traceable to abiding pagan values and residual polytheistic beliefs, would have had beliefs and practices about spiritual gifts still influenced by their surrounding indigenous culture.

The majority of scholars acknowledge that Paul's choice of the Greek term for spirits (pneuvmata, pneumata ) is confusing, but conclude, nevertheless, that Paul clearly has spiritual gifts in mind. John Calvin, for example, judged that "The term spirits, he employs here, by metonymy, to denote spiritual gifts."

The upshot of Paul's words in this verse is apparent. With some mild sarcasm he contrasts the eagerness (zhlwthv", zçlôtçs) of the wrongheaded tongue speakers with their true need to seek to excel in serving others by using gifts that edify (oikodomç). Having made the decision to translate pneumata (spirits) as spiritual gifts in 14:12a, the NIV inserts the phrase "in gifts" in 14:12b.

3. The Spirit and the Mind (14:13-19)

¹³ For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. ¹⁶ If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand ^a say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.

¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

^a 16 Or among the inquirers

14:13 For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says.

If edification of the assembly is the desired goal, as Paul just asserted, then the Corinthians who speak in tongues are directed to seek the gift of interpretation. In reading 12:10 and 14:26-28 one is left with the distinct impression that the two gifts of tongues and the interpretation of tongues are normally distributed by God to different individuals. Yet, the apostle's solution at this juncture is to counsel the tongue speakers to petition God, who appoints gifts in the church (12:28), to provide them with the gift of interpretation also.

14:14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

In 14:14-15 Paul enters into specific instruction which, in my judgment, makes the most sense when viewed against the backdrop of residual pagan thinking among certain converts. Specifically, Paul's corrective use of the mind (nou'", nous )/spirit (pneu'ma, pneuma ) dichotomy seemingly assumes a situation where the tongue speakers are relying only on their "spiritual" component to the neglect of their rational self. Even though there is no such radical antithesis between mind and spirit in Pauline anthropology, there is apparently such in the thinking and practice of these Corinthian saints. Accordingly, Paul's observation about the unfruitfulness of the mind of the Corinthian tongue speakers during their prayers-in-tongues implies an "irrational" dimension to their spirituality and piety that the apostle finds unacceptable. Ralph Martin summarized the significance of this unfruitful mind in this way:

The last word implies that the human intellect in this kind of ecstatic praying lies dormant, contributing nothing to the process of articulating thoughts into words. . . . It suggests an enraptured fellowship with God when the human spirit is in such deep, hidden communion with the divine Spirit that "words" - at best broken utterances of our secret selves - are formed by a spiritual upsurge requiring no mental effort.

This type of "irrational" focus in communion with the divine was well known in Greco-Roman and Hellenistic Jewish materials of antiquity. E.R. Dodd's classic work entitled The Greeks and the Irrational , unfortunately neglected by most interpreters of 1 Cor 14, shows how widespread and deeply rooted the notion of the "irrational" was in the pagan concepts of prophecy, enthusiasm, and oracular possession. This is the very reason why pagan visitors to the worship service can so readily interpret this aberrant tongue speaking in light of the pagan oracular experiences and presume a deity is also in the midst of these tongue speakers in the church of God (see notes on 14:23). Even a Jewish contemporary of Paul like Josephus could think in terms of prophecy arising in an individual "who was no longer his own master, but was overruled by the divine spirit."

14:15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

Keeping the same corrective principle before his readers, Paul declares that when he prays in a tongue it will include his rational faculties - both spirit ( pneuma ) and mind ( nous ) will be at work. Paul's insistence on the rational, but not rationalistic, character of acceptable tongue speaking lines up nicely with his preferences in the earlier contrast between tongues and more cognitive gifts such as revelation, knowledge, prophecy and teaching (14:6).

Even though the Greek word for "my" is not in 14:15, it should obviously be brought forward from the context of 14:14 where "my" accompanies both spirit and mind. Accordingly, the prepositional phrase ("spirit" in the dative case) "with spirit" can only refer to the individual's spirit and not the Holy Spirit. One ought not, therefore, parallel this phrase directly to texts which speak of praying in (with, by) the Holy Spirit (e.g., Rom 8:26-27; Jude 20; cf. Eph 6:18).

There seems insufficient evidence to be dogmatic regarding the question whether the "praying with my spirit" and "singing with my spirit" is just another way to describe uninterpreted tongues. D.A. Carson is of the opinion that "speaking in tongues is a form of prayer" and that "singing with the spirit" is basically tongue speaking which has "a more melodious or metrical form." However, it should be kept in mind that the acts of singing and tongue speaking seem to be quite distinct in 14:26.

The reference to singing in an early Christian assembly should come as no surprise, nor should anyone familiar with the Spirit directed hymns of the Old Testament, the Gospels, and Eph 5:18ff be taken back by "charismatic hymnody" in the Corinthian setting. What is noteworthy, however, is that unlike the hymnic materials of the Old Testament, the hymnic materials in the Infancy Narratives of Luke, the supposed hymnic materials in the Pauline letters, and the hymnic materials in the Apocalypse of John, these Corinthian singers were apparently using "irrational," that is unintelligible, songs. The apostle's rejoinder to this practice is to demand intelligibility. More light on the dynamics of this kind of Corinthian singing will probably have to wait until further historical research is done and interpreters commit themselves to investigating this phenomenon in light of ancient practices rather than 20th century Pentecostal religious phenomena.

14:16 If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?

Paul next applies the litmus test of intelligibility and rationality to the act of praising God. This act of praise is also called thanksgiving (eujcaristiva, eucharistia ). Because some of the Corinthians are doing this "in the spirit" the "uninitiated" don't have a clue about what is being said. How is it possible, the apostle asks, for someone in this situation to say "Amen" to the statements of praise and thanksgiving? The NIV's translation "one who finds himself among those who do not understand" is somewhat noncommittal on a particularly thorny historical question. Paul's sentence refers to the one who fills the place (tovpo", topos ) of the idiôtçs (= interested nonmember). Because of the ambiguities of the Greek term idiôtçs (ijdiwvth") and the occurrence of the same word in 14:23 (in connection with unbelievers), scholars are divided over Paul's meaning here. In my own judgment the word idiôtçs in 14:16, 23-24 refers to the same type of person, and this person would be somewhat like God-fearers in Jewish synagogues or pagans who were sympathetic to Judaism but were never fully converted. Given the openness of early Christian assemblies, at least in Corinth (14:22-25), and the religiously mixed households in attendance, there are no historical, theological, or exegetical impediments to viewing this person who cannot say "Amen" as an unbaptized, though quite interested, individual who attends the church of God at Corinth (see notes on 14:23-25).

14:17 You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.

Paul acknowledges, though perhaps with some sarcasm, that the self-centered believers are doing a good job in their individualistic "praise and thanksgiving" worship. They have, however, taken their eyes off of the compass that always guides believers in the direction of serving and edifying the other person (oJ e{tero", ho heteros ).

14:18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

The content of this verse removes any question about the "charismatic" nature of Paul's own piety. Paul himself was an enthusiastic tongue speaker and an individual who experienced divine revelations (2 Cor 12:1-7). It is the apostle's own extensive experience as a tongue speaker that allows him both to chastise tongue speakers and to protect them (14:39) on the issue of their own abuse of tongue speaking. The superlative claim of this verse, whose rhetorical nature should not be forgotten, ought not be construed in such a way that this particular Pauline gift of tongues is "discovered" in other Pauline texts where it is not mentioned. We can say with some certainty that this gift of tongues is broached by Paul only this one time, when he had to deal with an abuse of it in the church of God. One must assume that Paul's experiences of tongue speaking were either done outside the assembly, in private, or were interpreted for the benefit of others.

14:19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

The beginning words of this verse (in the church) refer to the assembled saints and not to a place or building where they met. The premium Paul places on intelligibility and edification is so high that five words with one's mind ( nous ; same term used in 14:14, 15) are greater than (cf. 14:5) ten thousand words which are only self-focused and do not instruct others. While there has been some speculation about the phrase "five words," there is no indication that Paul has a particular five words in mind.

This is not the first nor the final time that Paul will use a "different standard" to evaluate the acceptability of a practice. For the apostle the concept encapsulated in the prepositional phrase ejn ejkklhsiva/ (en ekklçsia, in the assembly) reveals that a different set of rules and judgments are to be observed. A similar use of a different standard involving the concept of en ekklçsia is seen at 11:18, 22, 34 and 14:34-35.

4. Maturity and Spiritual Gifts (14:20-25)

²⁰ Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. ²¹ In the Law it is written:

"Through men of strange tongues

and through the lips of foreigners

I will speak to this people,

but even then they will not listen to me," ^a

says the Lord.

²² Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. ²³ So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand ^b or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? ²⁴ But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand ^c comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, ²⁵ and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"

^a 21 Isaiah 28:11,12 ^b 23 Or some inquirers ^c 24 Or or some inquirer

14:20 Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.

The childlike thinking that Paul has in mind is the self-centeredness of the abusing tongue speakers. Infantile thinking is desirable among believers when it is in regard to evil. With this small colony of believers in mind, Paul exhorts them to retain a certain innocence and childlike naivetι in matters of evil. Mature thinking - seeking the good of others (14:19b) - is what Paul demands from the factious members of the Corinthian church.

14:21 In the Law it is written: "Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me," says the Lord.

Verses 21-25 form one of the more enigmatic sections in chapter 14. The difficulties are caused by Paul's choice and interpretation of an Old Testament Scripture for addressing this assembly problem at Corinth. In addition, some interpreters have been unable to reconcile Paul's theoretical understanding of prophecy and tongues (v. 22) and his description of how, in fact, they impact various segments of those in attendance (vv. 23-25).

The unit of thought contained in 14:21-25 is totally in step with the upshot of the preceding verses. Just as he has argued in 14:1-19 that prophecy is greater in the assembly since it edifies, so also in 14:21-25 Paul wants to demonstrate that prophecy is greater than tongues since it convicts non-Christians. Just as intelligibility was the sine qua non for prophecy's advantage over tongue speaking in building up the assembly, so intelligibility is the sine qua non for prophecy's advantage over tongue speaking in benefiting the spiritual needs of the non-Christian in attendance. With this perspective in mind, Paul's strategy and argumentation in 14:21-25 become more transparent.

Paul's use of this Old Testament Scripture fits comfortably into the typical interpretive perspectives and guidelines we find him using elsewhere (see notes on 10:11). What the apostle is doing here is reasoning from the realities of the Corinthian assemblies back to the verses which contain the keywords and logic that reflects his own position. Accordingly, the phrases "strange tongues" and "lips of foreigners" correlate to the Corinthian phenomenon of speaking in uninterpreted tongues (notice "foreigner" imagery used of uninterpreted tongues in 14:11). The scriptural concept of "speaking to a group of people who will not listen" becomes in the Corinthian experience a sign for unbelievers (14:22). The clarity of this correlation is evident in the grammatical connectors Paul uses in 14:22 (w{ste, hôste) and 14:23 (ou , oun ).

Since the contextual function of 14:21 is to set forth a scriptural basis for the observable advantage of prophecy over tongues in regard to nonbelievers, little is to be gained by attempting to "harmonize" the Corinthians' context in this Roman colony with that of Isaiah centuries earlier.

14:22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers.

Paul's use of the term "sign" (shmei'on, sçmeion) is significant in this verse, for it is one of the things that distinguishes the impact of tongues for unbelievers from prophecy for believers. In determining what specifically the apostle has in mind, it is important to remember that he is formulating his observation in this verse in light of the experiences he mentions in 14:24-25. Consequently, the concept that tongues are a sign for unbelievers must be correlated with the unbelievers' reaction to tongues described in 14:23b. In similar fashion, the statement that prophecy is for believers must be correlated with the actions described in 14:24-25 when prophecies are given. The details of this are discussed in the commentary at 14:23-25.

14:23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

Since we do not know either the size of the church at Corinth or the size of its meeting places, it is difficult to interpret the phrase "the whole church." This coming together of the whole church would certainly include the regular "first day of every week" (16:2) setting, though there is no reason to assume it would include only that. A similar idea is located in 11:20 in the context of the eating of the Lord's Supper. Based upon word and phrase usage in the Old Testament when it speaks of the assembly of "all Israel" or the gathering of the "whole congregation," one should recognize the hyperbole that sometimes characterizes words such as "all," "every," and "whole."

This Corinthian setting of coming together (from sunevrcomai, synerchomai ) as "the whole church" is the backdrop for the rest of the instruction in 1 Cor 14, a fact made clear by the continued use of "coming together" ( synerchomai ) in 14:26 as well as the function of the rhetorical question in 14:26a that looks backward to 14:20-25.

In light of the fact that Paul has made it clear that it is contrary to the nature of the working of God's Spirit to give tongues to every believer (see notes on 12:29-30), he can hardly be advocating that position now. Moreover, if every member of the Corinthian congregation spoke in tongues, one wonders why Paul needs to protect tongue speakers from spiritual assailants as he does in 14:39. It seems most reasonable to understand "everyone" (pavnte", pantes ) as meaning everyone who has the gift of tongue speaking. It is quite clear that Paul's statement that "everyone speaks in tongues" is descriptive rather than prescriptive. If the latter were true, that he wanted all of them to speak in tongues, it would pose grave problems since in 14:27 he limits the number of tongue speakers to three at most.

The two groups Paul describes as those "who do not understand" and as "unbelievers" are patently non-Christian (see notes on 14:16). The apostle next reports what these two groups will say in response to a worship situation characterized by a mass of uninterpreted tongue speakers. They will respond, Paul writes, that you are out of your mind. Since these outsiders are probably pagan and since wildly emotional and irrational worship was well known in certain aspects of pagan religiosity, these outsiders may not have been responding negatively. As D.A. Carson observed, "it will not be surprising if they [i.e., outsiders and unbelievers] simply conclude that the believers are possessed." Consequently, the Scripture cited in 14:21 is fulfilled, for tongue speaking has served only as a signpost; but no one listened to God (how could they?).

14:24 But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all,

Paul now paints a scene which is quite distinct from that of 14:23. When the outsiders are confronted by a cacophony (from Paul's perspective) of uninterpreted and therefore unintelligible tongues, they can hardly listen to the true voice of God. Things are significantly different, however, when these non-Christians are exposed to rational and intelligible words from the Spirit of God.

It is important to notice that Paul's earlier quotation from the law (14:21) is not as directly related to prophecy as it had been to tongue speaking, though Calvin thinks otherwise. At least since the time of Chrysostom there have been numerous solutions suggested to explain the ostensible contradiction between Paul's statement that prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers (14:22) and the description in 14:24-25 where it is precisely the unbelievers who are positively affected by the prophecy of the saints. Most interpreters would agree with Carson's assessment that "these verses are extraordinarily difficult," and all would benefit from reading his survey of the several different interpretations of this issue.

Fee's solution is to suggest that the response of the outsider to prophecy (14:25 "God is really among you") serves as a sign of divine knowledge to believers, since it would be an "indication of God's favor resting upon them." Another view looks for the remedy in this way. In 14:23b Paul states, as he had numerous other times in chapter 14, that prophecy is for edification of the assembly. In the context of assemblies where prophecy is for believers, nonbelievers are occasionally present. As these nonbelievers overhear God's words in the prophecy of the saints, they undergo the experiences described in 14:24-25. Thus, as Ralph Martin wrote, the act of prophecy "builds up the church, but also has a signal and salutary effect on the non-believer." All of this demonstrates once again the greater value of prophecy in the assembly, not only in regard to the saints, but even in regard to the outsiders who benefit from it.

14:25 and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"

This work of the Spirit in judgment anticipates the nature of God's eschatological judgment. "Exposing the motives of men's hearts" (4:5) underscores the importance of the condition of the human heart in the mind of God (cf. Acts 1:24; 15:8 for God knowing the heart). The prophet Jeremiah's profound awareness that, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" points to the reality of mankind's need for revelation in order to understand the gravity of his own situation.

There is plenty of evidence, however, in both the pagan religions and in the writings of moral philosophers of antiquity to realize that non-Christians knew of their own guilt and shortcomings in the sight of their gods. The NIV's added phrase in 14:24 "that he is a sinner" probably reflects modern evangelistic piety more than it does an ancient pagan's response to prophecy directed to edifying the church.

Paul's description in 14:25 portrays nonbelievers whose hearts are touched in such a way by the words of God that they are led to fall down and worship God. In a pluralistic and polytheistic setting it is anachronistic to depict this as a Corinthian revival meeting wherein the unsaved are saved. The texts from the Old Testament and the other arguments which Fee assembles do not fully demonstrate that these verses depict the unsaved in Corinth being converted and joining the people of God.

The act of worship and the confession "God is really among you" described by Paul remind one more of Naaman's response in 2 Kings 5:15 than of the "what must I do to be saved?" picture so reminiscent of the Acts of the Apostles. If Paul is alluding to conversions, his language is especially oblique.

E. ORDERLY WORSHIP (14:26-40)

1. Control of Tongues and Prophecy (14:26-33)

²⁶ What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. ²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, two - or at the most three - should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸ If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.

²⁹ Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. ³⁰ And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. ³¹ For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. ³² The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

As in all the congregations of the saints,

14:26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

At this juncture the apostle leaves the strategy and style of the previous sections where he argued on the basis of principles and illustrations. He will now focus his comments and directives on specific liturgical rules and legislation. The opening words and question of 14:26 obviously are intended to draw upon the style and content of the preceding 25 verses. But now, in 14:26-36, 39-40, Paul will articulate the concrete and acceptable practices based upon the earlier stated principles; in addition, he will claim divine authority for these practices and denounce any and all who challenge them (14:37-38).

Paul has in mind the same worship assembly that was mentioned in 14:23 (see notes on 14:23). He makes reference to five particular spiritual gifts which are distributed among [some of] the believers. All five of these have been referred to earlier in this chapter: hymn (singing, 14:15), word of instruction (14:6, see notes at 14:6), revelation (revelation, 14:6), tongues (14:2ff), and an interpretation (14:5, 13).

The term "hymn" (literally "psalm," yavlmo", psalmos ) in another setting might refer to the scriptural psalms of the Old Testament (cf. Luke 24:44), but its contextual connection with the singing (yavllw, psallo ) of 14:15 makes this improbable. These five items are grammatically the objects of indicative rather than imperative verbs. The point of this observation is to make it clear that Paul is acknowledging the presence of these rather than commanding that all five be part of the Corinthian worship experience when they come together. It would be misguided to suppose that these verses provide some kind of absolute list or description of an early Christian worship service. Noticeable by their absence from these verses are items such as the reading of Scripture and the Lord's Supper.

After the five item list of liturgical gifts, the apostle does impose an imperative. His corrective to the current situation is to mandate that all five of these must be practiced from the perspective of edification and strengthening of others. The NIV's phrase "of the church" is not a translation of any words in the Greek text, but that is surely Paul's idea.

14:27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two - or at the most three - should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.

The apostle next moves to correct, censure, and give order to three subgroups whose verbal activities in the assembly are inappropriate. The connecting thread of Paul's imperatives to these three groups is the imperative "be silent" (sigavtw, sigatô) of v. 28. The three groups are: (1) disorderly tongue speakers, (2) disorderly prophets, and (3) disorderly women (14:2, 30, 34). In this section Paul is still obviously concerned about edification, but the perceived impediment is not so much unintelligibility as it is with liturgy not being done "in a fitting and orderly way" (14:40).

A second connecting thread between Paul's treatment of these three groups is the prepositional phrase "in church(es)." Paul's divinely given (14:37) directives at this juncture are related to abuses occurring "in the assembly." Consequently, his rules for the Corinthians are specifically related to their demeanor and activity in worship assemblies when the whole church (14:23) comes together. The fact that Paul's commands on these three issues (i.e., tongue speaking, prophets, women) relate only to activities "in church" has led some to question the validity and consistency of his teaching. The fact is, this division between "public" assembly and more "private" activities made complete sense to most people in the Greco-Roman world. In fact, had Paul himself not adapted the "public" versus "private" paradigm, it is hard to imagine how the assembly could have had both intelligibility and an orderly manner given the diversity and complexity of its membership and cultural milieu. The collapse of this "public"/"private" dichotomy can be achieved only at the price of either chaotic meetings or having only clone-like members who walk lockstep.

Those saints who are gifted in tongue speaking are strictly regulated by Paul. The apostle has a threefold regulation which, I imagine, would appear quite restrictive to the abusing tongue speakers. The first of the three criteria of acceptability is the numerical ceiling - no more than three tongue speakers. Second, Paul limits aspects of spontaneity by insisting that the tongue speakers speak sequentially and not simultaneously. The third criterion, and the only one directly related to intelligibility, was that an interpreter of tongue speaking had to be present to make the tongues intelligible.

14:28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.

Paul did not view the church of God as a society of free speech, nor did he believe its corporate meetings should be conducted with disregard for the needs of the group and the larger goals of its assemblies. Accordingly, Paul enforces his first "keep quiet" ( sigatô). It is lamentable that the NIV translation masks the fact that in all three instances (14:28, 30, 34) the apostle uses the same verb (sigatô) to command quietness from those threatening orderliness. This verb is once rendered "keep quiet" (14:28), once "should stop" (14:30), and once "remain silent" (14:34). Notwithstanding the peculiar slant of the NIV, the intent of Paul's imperative is to have the tongue speakers cease speaking in tongues until they can do it in an acceptable manner (i.e., no more than three; sequentially, intelligibly).

It is important to note that Paul's concern for the need for "quietness" is not because he shares the Roman magical view about the potential for offending deities. The Roman author Pliny the Elder reflects the Roman mindset in these words,

It apparently does no good to offer a sacrifice or to consult the gods with due ceremony unless you also speak words of prayer. In addition, some words are appropriate for seeking favorable omens, others for warding off evil, and still others for securing help. We notice, for example, that our highest magistrates make appeals to the gods with specific and set prayers. And in order that no word be omitted or spoken out of turn, one attendant reads the prayer from a book, another is assigned to check it closely, a third is appointed to enforce silence. In addition, a flutist plays to block out any extraneous sounds. There are recorded remarkable cases where either ill-omened noises have interrupted and ruined the ritual or an error has been made in the strict wording of the prayer.

The apostle's agenda here arises from a concern for edification of one's neighbor and not from a pagan preoccupation with some incidental offense of a deity.

The phrase "in the church" (see notes on 14:27) means the "worship service." The tongue speaker's confinement to quietness is not a total ban on this spiritual gift. Paul tells him to continue his exercise of this gift, but it must be inaudible. Fee disagrees and takes the phrase "speak to himself" as in contrast to "in the church" and concludes that the tongue speaker should pray this way to God in private. In either case, the ideas of "himself" and "speaking to God" take one back to the wording of vv. 2-4.

14:29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.

The reason that Paul puts the same numerical ceiling on prophets as he did on tongue speaking that was interpreted (no more than three) is that in certain ways prophecy's edge and superiority over tongue speaking (14:5) is diminished if tongues are accompanied by interpretation (14:5).

Unlike pagan prophecy, which required interpretation, Paul never speaks of prophecy in the church needing interpretation. Rather, the prophecy spoken through believers required careful weighing. The concern and need to evaluate prophecies and thereby the prophet who gives them is a well established scriptural perspective. A classic, but certainly not unique, Scripture in this regard is Deut 13:1-5 (cf. Deut 18:20-22). The prophecies of Jeremiah reveal a concern about this issue since he knew of numerous examples of false prophecies and false prophets. This phenomenon of false prophecy reached such epidemic proportions that Zechariah equates prophesying with falsehood (Zech 13:1-6) and by the Word of the Lord (Zech 1:1) proclaimed, "And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother, to whom he was born, will say to him, 'You must die, because you have told lies in the Lord's name.' When he prophesies, his own parents will stab him" (Zech 13:3).

The Lord Jesus himself warned of false prophets, who were destined for eternal punishment, even though they were influential in the community of disciples and specialized in prophesying, in performing exorcisms, and in miracle working activities (Matt 7:15-23). Jesus exhorts the disciples to carefully evaluate prophetic claims (Matt 7:18-20), as do Paul (1 Thess 5:19-22) and John (1 John 4:1-3).

Paul's imperative to weigh carefully what these two or three prophets spoke is certainly no indication that these prophecies were just pious insights granted to particular believers. Neither Luke nor Paul believed that Paul's gospel was merely the result of spiritual insight. Rather both Luke and Paul affirmed that Paul's message was a result of direct revelation and had the imprimatur of God himself, yet both acknowledged that Paul's preaching should be evaluated (Acts 17:11; Gal 1:8-9). John Calvin addressed this theological and exegetical issue by noting "that the teaching of God is not subjected to the judgment of men, but their [i.e., the others] task is simply to judge, by the Spirit of God, whether it is His Word, which is declared or whether, using this as a pretext, men are wrongly parading what they themselves have made up."

There are two main schools of thought in the matter of identifying "the others" (oiJ a[lloi, hoi alloi ). Some scholars identify these as the other prophets or saints with the gift of the discernment of spirits (1 Cor 12:10). The other school of interpretation concludes, in my opinion, correctly, that "the others" refers to the collective congregation.

14:30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop.

The point of 14:30 is to regulate the issue of the orderliness of the prophetic gift. These believers must also manifest their spiritual gift of prophecy sequentially and not simultaneously (cf. 14:27). The picture he paints is of a second prophet receiving a revelation while the first prophet is still speaking. Paul directs the first one to stop speaking (sigavtw, sigatô) and defer to the second prophet so he also can deliver his divine revelation. The reference to the fact that the second prophet is sitting down may point to the fact that these speakers were seated when listening, but arose to speak (cf. Jesus in Luke 4:16, 20).

14:31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.

In order to reassure (in the midst of correction) the Corinthian prophets, Paul confirms that each of the three prophets will have his turn. As a consequence, all those in the assembly will be instructed and encouraged (see notes on vv. 3-4).

14:32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.

The function of this verse is to respond to Corinthian prophets who would take the position, as a way to circumvent Paul's commandment in 14:30, that they cannot control the timing and duration of their prophetic revelations. The apostle's pointed remarks make it clear that as far as he is concerned each Corinthian prophet should exercise control over his own inner personal spirit. The necessity for such an emphasis from Paul is best located in the pagan matrix of these converts. Part and parcel of pagan theology and practice of prophetic inspiration was the concept of the loss of control. That was true in many examples of both Greek and Roman prophetic and oracular piety. Fee's analysis is correct when he concludes that Paul teaches a viewpoint here that is a radically different thing from the mania of the pagan cults. "There is no seizure here, no loss of control; the speaker is neither frenzied nor a babbler."

14:33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints,

If Paul's first argument against aberrant prophetic practices and theology was based upon an anthropology in which spirits of prophets are in submission to prophets (14:32), then his second argument is based upon the nature of God who inspires prophets. Unlike several pagan deities who engendered chaotic activities in worship and group meetings, the God of the Christian church in Corinth was no such deity. Responsibility for such disorderly and aberrant behavior could not, in Paul's theology, be laid at the feet of God. Peace, and not disorder, characterized the true God and his distribution of gifts in the assembled church.

Moreover, he continues, this peaceful attribute of God was uniformly revealed and (supposedly) evident in all the worship assemblies of believers everywhere. It is unfortunate that the NIV, along with several other 20th century English translations, divides 14:33 into two sentences, and erroneously makes 14:33b the beginning of a sentence continued into 14:34. Witherington is of the judgment that 33b goes with the instruction about women, but Fee is certainly correct (though not for the right reasons in every case) when he concludes that 14:33b should be regarded "as the concluding word to these instructions [in the preceding verses] on order."

2. Submission of Women (14:34-35)

³⁴ women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. ³⁵ If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

14:34 women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.

As one begins to investigate the unit of thought expressed in 14:34-35 in light of current studies, it is clear that not all interpreters believe that Paul authored these verses. While over the decades certain classically liberal scholars have doubted the genuineness of these verses, it is only recently that this perspective of doubt has been more widely accepted. At the present time it is not difficult to find modern feminist scholars who affirm that these verses were not written by Paul and apparently assume that most scholars now accept this view. More recently a group of evangelical authors have likewise concluded that these verses were not written by Paul and, in fact, are contradictory to Paul's beliefs. A clarion voice in this regard is the Pentecostal-evangelical author Gordon Fee. There are at least three issues which have led Fee to this flawed conclusion. These are: (1) it makes no sense for Paul to discuss the role of women in a chapter focused on problems with tongues and prophecy, (2) there are some disagreements in the ancient Greek manuscripts regarding the location of these two verses in chapter 14, and (3) the treatment of women in these verses is in contradiction to 1 Cor 11:5 and Paul's views about women expressed elsewhere.

In regard to point one, any interpreter of Paul knows the dangers of making an ancient author, Paul or someone else, fit into our preconceived ideas of how he should write on topics and treat issues. It is tragic to impose our own expectations and preferences onto Paul's works and force his material into a Procrustean bed. Moreover, since Paul's strategy toward the end of ch. 14 has shifted from demanding intelligibility to demanding an orderly demeanor, his critique of certain women on this basis is not so out of step with the surrounding context. Moreover, if the unacceptable speech of these women was part of the weighing and evaluation of prophecy (v. 29), then Paul's words to them are closely tied to his contextual treatment of the use of spiritual gifts.

Regarding the second issue, Fee well knows and acknowledges that there is no "direct manuscript evidence" for his theory of interpolation and that "these two verses are found in all known manuscripts, either here [following 14:33] or at the end of the chapter." One must wonder if Carroll Osburn is not right when he judges that Fee's attempts "look suspiciously like attempts to liberate Paul in terms of modern agendas."

Even though Fee finds none of the exegetical efforts satisfactory, numerous exegetes have made reasonable proposals to demonstrate how 1 Cor 14:34-35 can co-exist with 1 Cor 11:4-5 and other pertinent Pauline texts (these scholars include D.A. Carson, Wayne Grudem, R. Martin, Witherington).

Until further and more substantive evidence and reasoning are forthcoming, Fee's conclusion that "this passage (1 Cor 14:34-35) is almost certainly not by Paul" remains illfounded and uncogent.

Paul's injunction to "silence" (sigavtwsan, sigatôsan) must surely be interpreted with the same principles as those principles used in the interpretation of the two previous injunctions to "silence" in this context (14:28, 30 sigatô). In particular one ought to remember that all three imperatives for "silence" were in the setting of a correction of aberrant behavior, and therefore the silence desired was only in relationship to the point of abuse. For example, the "silence" placed upon the first prophet of 1 Cor 14:30 was in force only so long as he was in violation of the principle that God is the author of peace and of the regulation that prophecies were to be done sequentially.

In the same manner, the conditions of "silence" and "not allowed to speak" can only contextually and consistently mean that the ban against the speech of these women (gunai'ke", gynaikes ) is in force only so long as they are in violation of the principles and regulations of 1 Cor 14:34-35. The principle that these particular women were violating is that of submission (from uJpotavssw, hypotassô; cf. usage of this verb in 14:32 "are subject to the control").

The apostle's reference to "the Law" (oJ novmo", ho nomos ) is not as enigmatic as many scholars have suggested. This type of use of the Old Testament is generally in line with Paul's technique at other places in 1 Corinthians. In particular, Paul felt quite comfortable in employing Scripture texts from the Old Testament to prescribe and interpret aspects of assembly activities. In 1 Cor 5:4 the church is assembled to censure a sinful fellow believer. The expulsion of wayward believers is authorized on the basis of a frequently found command ("Expel the wicked man from among you") from Deuteronomy (e.g., 17:7; 19:19; 22:21,24; 24:7). First Corinthians 11 provides a singular example of the use of Genesis material from the Creation and Fall Narratives to insure propriety regarding liturgical head coverings in the worship assembly of believers. More to the setting and context of 1 Cor 14, Paul refers to the Law (though the quotation is principally from the Prophets) to interpret the phenomenon of tongue speaking in a worship service in the Roman colony of Corinth. The same apostle Paul who so naturally curbed unacceptable male and female head covering practices during prophecy and prayer on the basis of principles from Genesis and challenged aberrant tongue speakers at Corinth with a theme from Isaiah, could with equal facility curb aberrant women's speech with a theme from Genesis.

It should be obvious that Genesis 1-3 does not any more explicitly mention liturgical head coverings than its says that women cannot speak in the assembly of believers! Moreover, Paul does not even imply or say that the text of Genesis says either of these. The authorizing phrase, "as the Law says" refers not to silence and speech, but to submission of certain Corinthian women whose comportment was in violation of the principle of submission.

One may or may not agree with Paul's teaching about the submission of women and his views about Genesis, but it seems to be blatant special pleading to attempt to discredit or to diminish the point of 14:34 by claiming it is unpauline, either in its view toward women or in its method of appropriation of Scriptural themes from the Old Testament.

The specific nature and extent of submission cannot be determined without an examination of the further information given in 14:35.

14:35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

Based upon Paul's comments in 14:35a in the context of his general censure of disorderliness, it seems that he is disturbed by the fact that the questions and inquiries from certain women manifest an attitude and behavior that violates the precepts and principles given in 14:34. The translation of the NIV is not as consistent as it could be in some of the details of 14:35. Keeping in mind that the Greek word a[ndre" ( andres ) can mean either "men" or "husbands" and that the Greek word gunai'ke" ( gynaikes ) can mean either "women" or "wives," one ought to translate these in a way that is contextually consistent. Accordingly, if the males mentioned in 14:35 are "husbands at home," then it only makes sense that the females mentioned in 14:34 are "wives" and not just women. If, on the other hand, one wishes to translate gynaikes in 14:34 as "women," then perhaps andres in 14:35 should be translated "men." If these two terms gynaikes and andres are kept away from marriage, then the gynaikes of 14:34 could include daughters (regardless of age) who were still in the home of a male (father, brother, or Roman guardian).

Regardless of how one translates and interprets gynaikes and andres in 14:34-35a, an important principle is stated in 14:35b, namely it is a disgrace for a woman to speak in an unsubmissive way in the assembly of the saints. By use of the connecting word "for" (gavr, gar ), the apostle conceptually connects his imperatives in 14:35a with the principles in 14:35b behind his imperatives. This is the fourth time Paul has appealed to the concept of disgraceful or shameful behavior (1 Cor 11:4, 5, 6; 14:35, aijscrov", aischros , and cognates) in 1 Corinthians. Based upon his use of this concept in this Corinthian correspondence, both believing men and women can be guilty of participating in behavior that is "shameful" to their gender.

If one can move beyond an interpretive method that only looks at verses in isolation and then interprets them only after having ripped them from the soil of their historical and rhetorical context, then one can more accurately visualize what the apostle is attempting to do. In light of a more holistic and historically sensitive interpretation several things become apparent:

1. Paul's statement of 1 Cor 14:35b "it is disgraceful . . ." should be kept in the immediate and particular context of the aberration of disorderliness that Paul is addressing.

2. The interpreter of Paul should acknowledge the apostle's explicit scriptural foundation of submissiveness as reflected in the Law.

3. Attempts to read Paul as either a feminist who violates cultural norms of the Greco-Roman world or a traditionalist who cannot get beyond his own cultural patriarchy usually arise from an ill-informed picture of Greco-Roman antiquity. The Roman world was anything but homogeneous in regard to its attitudes toward women. Not only were there differing attitudes among individuals toward women in the Greco-Roman setting, but the views vary depending whether women were being characterized from the perspectives of Roman law, ancient medicine and gynecology, Greco-Roman religious mores, ancient social institutions, etc.

The complexity of this situation is heightened by the fact that Greek culture and Roman culture did not always express the same views on these matters. The Roman author Cornelius Nepos, for example, observed that, "not all peoples look upon the same acts as honourable or base, but that they judge them all in light of the usage of their forefathers." One of the illustrations given of this by Cornelius Nepos deals with perceptions of acceptable behavior of women in certain public activities. "Many actions are seemly according to our [i.e., Roman] code which the Greeks look upon as shameful," reports this Roman author. In particular, "what Roman would blush to take his wife to a dinner-party? What matron does not frequent the front rooms of her dwelling and show herself in public?" inquires Cornelius. Matters are "very different in Greece," the reader learns, "for there a woman is not admitted to a dinner-party, unless relatives only are present." As a consequence, in Greece "she keeps to the more retired part of the house called 'the women's apartment,' to which no man has access who is not near of kin."

3. Everything Fitting and Orderly (14:36-40)

³⁶ Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? ³⁷ If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. ³⁸ If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored. ^a

³⁹ Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰ But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

^a 38 Some manuscripts If he is ignorant of this, let him be ignorant

14:36 Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?

Verses 36-38 form one coherent unit of thought. In this section Paul gives his terse response to anticipated opposition to the views he has just expressed in this chapter. The point of 14:36 is probably related to the concept found in the fourfold reference to the fact that what he teaches to the Corinthians is in harmony with the same ideas that are found in all the churches (see notes on 14:33b). Robertson and Plummer correctly interpret Paul's point to the Corinthians in these words, "Were you the starting-point of the Gospel? or were you its only destination? Do you mean to contend that you have the right to maintain these irregularities?"

14:37 If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command.

Paul begins this verse by picking up the two words "prophet" and "spiritual" from the historical setting at the Corinthian church and the previous verses in chapter 14 to depict some of his antagonists. Even though Paul has preferred prophecy over tongues throughout 1 Cor 14, he knows that those with prophetic gifts are not without their own problems. The problematic prophets might include prophets who did not agree with Paul's restrictions of their practices (14:29-33), women prophets who did not agree with Paul's possible restrictions placed upon them (14:34-35), or prophets who thought Paul was too protective of tongue speakers (14:39). Paul's requirement that prophecy be weighed (14:29) surely implies that a Corinthian prophet's message could be contrary to Paul's own instruction (see notes on 14:29).

The Greek text of 14:37 has the term for "spiritual" (pneumatikov", pneumatikos; cf. 12:1; 14:1) and not "spiritually gifted." In a way analogous to the litmus test of 12:3 (see notes there), Paul sets forth his epistolary instruction as the litmus test of spiritual orthodoxy and orthopraxy. The phrase "what I am writing to you" patently refers to at least 1 Cor 12-14 and demonstrates thereby that Paul intends the Corinthians to understand that it is prescriptive and regulatory for their faith and practice. As the apostle states it, this instruction "is the Lord's commandment" (see 4:15, 16, 20-21).

14:38 If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.

Scholars differ in their interpretation of the severity implied in Paul's teaching here. Barrett, for example, understands this to mean that the apostle "does not recognize the man in question as inspired in his opinion, not that he does not recognize him as a Christian." Other scholars such as Kistemaker and Fee interpret Paul's words to mean that any who oppose his teaching, and thereby the commandment of the Lord (14:37b), will be ignored (=not recognized) by God.

14:39 Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

Paul's instruction here summarizes a strategy that was implicit throughout chapter 14. When they are done God's way, Paul has no interest in curtailing prophecy and tongue speaking. However, in light of the practices of certain Corinthian believers, Paul's goal was to radically alter the Corinthians' use of these two gifts. The apostle's encouragement of prophecy and his protection of tongue speaking at this juncture can only fit into the rest of this chapter with any kind of consistency if one realizes that Paul means prophecy and tongue speaking which take place as he taught it should! Otherwise this verse would negate both the doctrine and regulations spelled out in the prior verses (14:1-38).

Commenting on this verse from the tradition and perspectives of a Pentecostal, Fee asks how it is that some 20th century believers "spend so much energy getting around the plain sense of vv. 39-40." It is hoped that in Fee's question the idea of "plain sense" includes the exegetical and rhetorical integrity of this verse with the remainder of Paul's teaching in this chapter. Only a dogmatic kind of prooftexting would interpret 14:39 as giving Corinthian believers a Scripture loophole with which to obviate or neutralize the command of the Lord expressed in the restrictions on tongue speaking, and to a lesser extent prophecy, which permeate chapter 14.

It should be pointed out that any unrepentant and non-compliant Corinthian tongue speaker would have regarded Paul's theology and regulations in 1 Cor 14 as the height of prohibition. To those Corinthian saints who were non-Pauline in their loyalties or to a prophet or tongue speaker who was number four (cf. 1 Cor 14:27, 29), Paul's injunction at 14:39 would have appeared to have been theological "double-speak" at its worst and completely inconsistent with the tenor and instruction of the preceding verses in this chapter.

14:40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

The apostle ends both this chapter as well as the three chapter unit 12-14 with an appeal to guiding principles. Pauline letters typically contain both the theological principles from which he works and specific applications he makes from these. Chapter 14 has been a clear combination of theological perspectives and specific commandments based upon these perspectives.

The apostle's commitment to a "fitting and orderly way" in the assembly arises not from a high-church liturgical orientation. Rather, Paul's commitment to this perspective stands on two spiritual pillars. The first pillar is the proper honor and appropriate reflection of the one triune God (12:4-11) who does not distribute gifts in a disorderly way (14:33). The second pillar is the loving (agapç) concern for others and their needs demonstrated concretely in choices made in the style and conduct of the assembly. On these two pillars rests Paul's theology of corporate worship in 1 Corinthians.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

McGarvey: 1Co 14:1

Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy . [From the discussion of spiritual gifts Paul turned aside in the last chapter to show that love is superior to all gifts. Having finished his digression, he now resumes the subject of gifts, and proceeds to show that the pursuit of love, as of supreme importance, does not exclude the desire of gifts, as of secondary importance. Having thus brought the subject of gifts again into discussion, he asserts that prophecy is superior to the gift of tongues, and proves his assertion by showing that it is the more useful in the edification of the church. Incidentally his argument shows that though the Spirit gave the gift of tongues to men, that men abused the gift; and so the Spirit, through Paul as its instrument, reproves and corrects this abuse. Prophecy, as here discussed, means preaching under divine guidance, and the gift of tongues was not a gift of the knowledge of, but of the use of, foreign languages. The one having it could declare God's will in a foreign tongue, and could sometimes even interpret what he had declared; but he could not use the language for business conversation, or any personal or worldly purpose.]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:2

For he that speaketh in a tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God; for no man understandeth; but in the spirit he speaketh mysteries .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:3

But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men edification, and exhortation, and consolation .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:4

He that speaketh in a tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church . [The apostle here lays the groundwork of his argument. Prophecy is superior to the gift of exercising his spiritual gift (Rev 1:10), might indeed speak the divine truths or mysteries of God; but, speaking them in a foreign language, he would be understood only by God and himself, and so would only edify, etc., himself. On the other hand, the prophet, declaring the same or kindred mysteries in the vernacular, would be understood by all present, and thus he would transform the mysteries into revelations, which would benefit the church, either edifying it, so as to enlighten its ignorance; or rousing its latent energies, so as to dispel its sluggishness; or comforting it, so as to remove its sorrows. In short, tongues might excite wonder (Act 2:12), but preaching brought forth fruit (Act 2:36-42) and the Corinthian church had need to be more fruitful, since it was not eminent for its holiness or its works. Paul does not mean to say that no man living could understand the tongues, or that they were mere jargon. He means that no man present in the usual Corinthian assemblies understood them. Had speaking with tongues been mere hysterical "orgiastic" jargon, it certainly would not have bodied forth the mysteries of God, nor would it have edified the one speaking, nor could it have been interpreted by him or by others as Paul directs. Those who belittle the gift by construing it as a mere jargon approach dangerously near making Paul (and themselves likewise) criticize the Holy Spirit for giving such a senseless, abnormal gift. But those who read Paul correctly find that he is only censuring the abuse of the gift and not the nature of it. It was useful to the church while engaged in missionary work in foreign fields. But it became a source of vanity and vainglorious display when used by a church sitting idly at home. To the missionary it was a splendid addition to the gift of prophecy; but to the Corinthian preachers exhorting in their home church, it was a sad subtraction from that gift. The fruits of the Spirit in the Christian life are far enough from being "orgiastic" -- Gal 5:22]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:5

Now I would have you all speak with tongues, but rather that ye should prophesy: and greater [because more profitable] is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

McGarvey: 1Co 14:6

But now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you either by way of revelation, or of knowledge, or of prophesying, or of teaching? [The gift of tongues had a subordinate use in the church of God, as an evidence of the presence of the Spirit of God. Moreover, it was a reserve of power, liable to be brought into active use at any time by the scattering of the church through persecution. For these reasons, and also to show that he writes in a spirit of generous good-will, Paul expresses a wish that all the churches in Corinth might be endowed with this gift. But, as a more practical wish, he prefers that they shall be able to prophesy, since the church would not be edified by the use of the gift of tongues, unless the foreign language used was interpreted. If Paul came to them as a visitor or missionary, his profit to them would not lie in his speaking with tongues (even though he, a Jew, spake to them miraculously in their own Greek language); but it would lie in the subject-matter of his utterance, in the edification which he conveyed. Paul names the four ways in which men may be edified by the use of words, and all these four manners were as much at the command of prophecy as they were at that of the gift of tongues. Revelation is the unveiling of divine truth to a prophet, and prophecy is the impartation of that truth to others. Knowledge is the divine illumination of the mind as to the bearing and significance of a truth, and doctrine is the impartation to another of the truth thus grasped. These are all matters of sense, and not of sound only. But speaking with tongues in the presence of those not understanding the language spoken, is sound without sense, and fails to convey any prophecy, doctrine, etc. Paul goes on to show that sound without sense is not only profitless, but may even be baneful.]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:7

Even things without life, giving a voice, whether pipe or harp, if they give not a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?

McGarvey: 1Co 14:8

For if the trumpet give an uncertain voice, who shall prepare himself for war?

McGarvey: 1Co 14:9

So also ye, unless ye utter by the tongue speech easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye will be speaking into the air .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:10

There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and no kind is without signification .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:11

If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian [a foreigner- -Act 28:2], and he that speaketh will be a barbarian unto me .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:12

So also ye, since ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may abound unto the edifying of the church . [If there be any place where sound without sense is apparently valuable, or profitable, argues Paul, it will be found in the use of musical instruments. But even here there are laws of cadence, modulation, harmony, etc., which form a veritable grammar of tongue-language, which, when obeyed, give to music what we may call a tone-sense, analogous to the intellectual sense embodied in language. Hence one may play an instrument so as to make it meaningless, and if he does he makes it profitless. Moreover, some instruments, such as the trumpet, because of the fixed and established laws of tone, are used to convey a language as well defined and unmistakable as that of the voice. Thus certain notes on the trumpet command a charge, others the joining of battle, and yet others the retreat, etc. Now, if the trumpet or trumpeter fails to produce this tone-language intelligibly, the army is thrown into confusion. Spiritual guidance uttered in an unknown tongue was like a blare of the trumpet which gave no order. Both disappointed the expectation of the listener. Both spoke idly into the air, instead of profitably into the ear. There are many sounds in the world, but they only become voices when they convey some form of sense. Thus we speak properly enough of the "voice of the trumpet," when it is blown, but no one speaks of the voice of the boiler when it is being riveted. Sense, meaning, signification, are the very essence of voice -- the qualities which distinguish it from mere sound. If you use your voice to speak a foreign, and hence a meaningless, language, you degrade it, so that to your hearer it becomes a mere profitless sound. This you should not do. Since you earnestly seek gifts, you should seek them for practical purposes; viz.: for the abundant edification of the church.]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:13

Wherefore let him that speaketh in a tongue pray that he may interpret .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:14

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:15

What is it then? [What is the conclusion of the argument?] I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:16

Else if thou bless with the spirit, how shall he that filleth the place of the unlearned say the Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he knoweth not what thou sayest?

McGarvey: 1Co 14:17

For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified . [The one who was so under the influence of the Spirit of God as to speak with tongues, produced words and sentences with little or no intellectual effort. His spirit, being in accord with the Spirit of God, uttered the exhortation or the prayer with his spirit rather than with his understanding. Therefore, taking the case of prayer as an example, Paul advises that the understanding be kept as active as the spirit, and that a man so control the flow of prayer as to pause from time to time that he might interpret it, thus making his understanding as fruitful as his spirit. If he does not do this, he prays with his tongue indeed, but his understanding bears no fruit in the congregation where he prays. For this reason the apostle made it his rule to pray with his spirit and interpret with his understanding, and to sing also in like manner. If the speaker did not do this, how could one who was not gifted to interpret say Amen to the petition offered, seeing that he knew not what it was? Thus, no matter how ably the gifted one might pray, the ungifted one would not be edified. Amen was then, as now, the word of ratification or assent to an expression of prayer or praise, of blessing or cursing (Deu 27:15 ; Neh 5:13 ; Rev 5:14). Justin Martyr (Ap., c. 65, 67) describes the use of the Amen, after the prayer at the communion service. It is to that or some similar use that Paul refers. Doddridge justly says that this passage is decisive against the ridiculous practice of the church of Rome of praying and praising in Latin, which is not only a foreign, but a dead, tongue. Moreover, it shows that prayer is not a vicarious duty done for us by others. We must join in it.]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:18

I thank God, I speak with tongues more than you all:

McGarvey: 1Co 14:19

howbeit in the church [congregation] I had rather speak five words with my understanding [so as to be understood], that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue . [Paul was thankful for the gift of tongues because of its utility, but especially lest any should think that he disparaged the gift because he did not have it, and assigned it a subordinate place from envy. His disparagement is most emphatic. "Rather half of ten of the edifying sort than a thousand times ten of the other," says Besser. "There is a lesson here," says Johnson, "to preachers who are so learned in their utterances that the people can not understand them."]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:20

Brethren, be not children in mind: yet in malice be ye babes, but in mind be men . [The apostle here reiterates the thought at 1Co 13:11 . To desire showy and comparatively worthless gifts was to be like children, pleased with toys. But as Paul exhorted them to be wise as men, the words of the Lord seem to have flashed through his mind (Mat 10:16) so that he parallels men with serpents and babes with doves. "Yet in malice be ye babes" is a parenthesis added by way of fullness. It has nothing to do with the line of argument, for there was no possible malice in the use of tongues.]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:21

In the law it is written, By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers will I speak unto this people; and not even thus will they hear me, saith the Lord .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:22

Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to the unbelieving: but prophesying is for a sign, not to the unbelieving, but to them that believe . [The Old Testament generally is often called the Law by New Testament writers (Joh 10:34 ; Joh 12:34 ; Rom 3:20). Therefore the reference here is not to the Pentateuch, but to Isa 28:11-12 . There the prophet tells how Israel murmured at the quality of the teaching which God gave them, and states that as a consequence God would soon teach them by the tongue of foreigners; i. e., the Assyrians would lead them away captive and they should be instructed by the hardships of captivity. When the captivity came, the necessity to understand and speak a strange tongue was a sign that God was teaching them, and yet a sign which they did not heed. From this incident Paul apparently draws several conclusions. 1. It was no especial mark of divine favor to have teachers who spoke an unknown tongue. 2. Tongues were for unbelievers and prophecy for believers. 3. Tongues were a sign that God was teaching, but the teaching itself was better than the sign. 4. Tongues, unless understood, had never been profitable; i. e., had not produced conversion. It must be remembered that Paul has in mind the abuse rather than the proper use of tongues. He illustrates his meaning by a hypothetical case.]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:23

If therefore the whole church be assembled together and all speak with tongues, and there come in men unlearned [not having the gift to interpret tongues, and not being educated in foreign languages] or unbelieving [and hence having no faith in the works of the Spirit], will they not say [because of the queer and unintelligible sounds which ye are making] that ye are mad?

McGarvey: 1Co 14:24

But if all prophesy, and there come in one unbelieving or unlearned, he is reproved by all, he is judged [literally, cross-examined] by all;

McGarvey: 1Co 14:25

the secrets of his heart are made manifest [being exposed by the cleaving sword of the Spirit -- Heb 4:12 ; Jam 1:23-24 ; comp. Joh 4:19 ; Joh 4:29]; and so he will fall down on his face [The Oriental mode of showing deep emotion (Isa 45:14 ; 1Sa 19:24). Here it indicates feelings of submission and self-abasement] and worship God, declaring that God is among you indeed . [Paul supposes the case of one who dropped into the meeting out of curiosity. If he heard many people speaking at once in an unknown tongue, he would regard the gathering as little better than bedlam (Act 2:13), and the more he heard speaking at once, the worse it would be. Therefore the meeting would be to him void of blessing from God, and the sign without any signification, for he would hear his fellow-citizens addressing him in a foreign tongue, which was to him a mere jargon, instead of hearing foreigners address him in his own tongue, similar to the miracle at Pentecost. If, on the other hand, he heard all his fellow-citizens prophesying in his own tongue, he would be reproved by all, and the secrets of his heart would be laid bare as though he had been cross-examined by a skillful attorney. This would lead to his conversion, and so be of profit to him, and would make him a witness to the divine nature of the church, instead of one who looked upon it as a hive of fanatics. Prophetic preaching must have had great power to make men feel that they stood face to face with God, for even the faithful preaching of our day lays bare the sinner's heart. He feels that sermons are aimed at him, and is often convinced that some one has been tattling to the preacher because the life is so fully exposed by his words. It should be observed that if truth is more potent than signs, much more is it more efficacious in revivals than mere excitement or pumped-up enthusiasm.]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:26

What is it then, brethren? [See comment on 1Co 14:15] When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:27

If any man speaketh in a tongue, let it be by two, or at the most three, and that in turn; and let one interpret:

McGarvey: 1Co 14:28

but if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:29

And let the prophets speak by two or three, and let the others discern .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:30

But if a revelation be made to another sitting by, let the first keep silence .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:31

For ye all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted;

McGarvey: 1Co 14:32

and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets ;

McGarvey: 1Co 14:33

for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace . [Since those who spoke with tongues were not understood, they could all speak at once without any loss. Thus confusion was fostered and encouraged, and those who came with other contributions to the service, such, as psalms, teachings, revelations, etc., were prevented from conferring any benefit upon the congregation. The apostle, therefore, orders the babel of tongues to be suppressed, that the congregation might be edified by these other contributions. Those who spoke with tongues were not to monopolize the meeting. In a large church like Corinth, where there would be plenty to take part in the exercises with psalms, teachings, interpretations of what had been said in tongues, etc., there was the opportunity for great variety. Hence Paul forbids more than three to speak with tongues in one exercise, and these must not speak all at once, but in turn, and they must pause and let some one gifted as interpreter translate what they had said for the edification of the church. If there was no such interpreter present, then the man gifted with tongues must keep silence, and worship within himself for the edification and benefit of his own soul. Moreover, not more than three prophets must speak in a meeting, and the others present must give heed, especially those competent to discern between true and false prophecies (1Th 5:20-21 ; 1Jo 4:1 ; 1Co 14:37). If a fresh revelation was given to a prophet while another prophet was speaking, the one speaking was to give place and keep silence, for the reception of a second revelation at such time would indicate authoritatively that the first revelation had been sufficiently explained. Therefore, the one speaking must desist, lest two should speak at a time, which would defeat the ends of instruction and exhortation. To enforce this rule of silence the apostle asserts the truth that prophets can control their spirits while under the prophetic influence. This guarded against the possibility that any speaker should pretend to be so carried away by the prophetic influence as to be unable to stop. God does not so overcome and entrance men as to make them produce confusion and disorder, for he is the God of order and of peace. God has not changed, and hysteria and frenzy, though they may exist in his churches as they may have done in Corinth, are not from him, nor according to his will. Even in the church at Corinth, where men were endowed with the gifts of the Spirit, all disorders were abuses of the spiritual gift and without excuse.] As in all the churches of the saints ,

McGarvey: 1Co 14:34

let the women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as also saith the law . [Gen 3:16 ; Num 30:3-12]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:35

And if they would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home: for it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church . [This is usually regarded as a very difficult passage, but the difficulties are more seeming than real, if we regard it as a general rule. Paul gives two reasons why the women should keep silence: 1. The Old Testament law made her subject to her husband, and hence not a teacher, but a pupil. 2. The customs of the age made it a shameful thing for a woman to speak in public. Of these, of course, the first is the weightier, and yet we find exceptions to the rule in both dispensations. There were several prophetesses who exercised their gifts in public (Exo 15:20 ; Jdg 4:4 ; 2Ki 22:14 ; Isa 8:3 ; Neh 6:14 ; Luk 1:41-42 ; Luk 2:36-38 ; Act 21:9). Moreover, the fullness of prophetic endowment granted to the New Testament church was matter of prophecy (Act 2:17), and Paul himself gives directions as to the attire of women when exercising the prophetic office in the church (1Co 11:5). Paul's rule, then, admits of exceptions. Some would do away with the rule entirely as obsolete on the ground that in Christ there is neither male nor female (Gal 3:28); but this is undoubtedly unwarranted, for while the gospel emancipated woman, it did not change her natural relation so as to make her the equal of man. The powers of woman have become so developed, and her privileges have been so extended in gospel lands, that it is no longer shameful for her to speak in public; but the failing of one reason is not the cessation of both. The Christian conscience has therefore interpreted Paul's rule rightly when it applies it generally, and admits of exceptions. The gift of prophecy no longer exists in the church, but, by the law of analogy, those women who have a marked ability, either for exhortation or instruction, are permitted to speak in the churches. Moreover, the apostle is speaking of the regular, formal meeting of the church; and it is doubtful if his law was ever intended to apply to informal gatherings such as prayer-meetings, etc. There is some weight to the comment that to understand the apostle we should know the ignorance, garrulity and degradation of Oriental women. Again, women are indeed subject to their husbands (Eph 5:22 ; Col 2:18 ; Tit 2:5 ; 1Pe 3:1). The law is permanent, but the application of it may vary. If man universally gives the woman permission to speak, she is free from the law in this respect.]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:36

What? [An exclamation of indignation] was it from you that the word of God went forth? or came it unto you alone? [Becoming puffed up by the fullness of their spiritual gifts, the Corinthians were acting as if they were the parent church and only church. They were assuming the right to set precedent and dictate customs, when it was their duty to conform to the precedents and customs established before they came into existence. Their pretensions needed this indignant rebuke. Others were to be considered besides themselves, others who had sounded out the word which they had received -- 1Th 1:8].

McGarvey: 1Co 14:37

If any man thinketh himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him take knowledge of the things which I write unto you, that they are the commandment of the Lord .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:38

But if any man is ignorant, let him be ignorant . [Since Paul's words were dictated by the Spirit of God, any one filled with that Spirit would be guided to recognize his words as of divine authority, for the Spirit would not say one thing to one man and another to another. But if any man was so incorrigibly obstinate as to refuse to be enlightened by what the Spirit spoke through the apostle, there was no further appeal to be made to him (Mat 15:14 ; 1Ti 6:3-5). Paul's test is still of force. Whoso professes to be inspired, yet contradicts what the Spirit of God has already said in the New Testament, is self-convicted. These verses mark the division between Catholics and Protestants. The former say in effect that the Spirit-filled prophets at Corinth could modify, alter, and even deny what was spoken by the Spirit-filled Paul; for they hold that the pope can change the Scriptures to suit himself. But Protestants hold that a man shows himself to be led of the Spirit of God when he assents and conforms to that which has been spoken by men of undoubted inspiration.]

McGarvey: 1Co 14:39

Wherefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues .

McGarvey: 1Co 14:40

But let all things be done decently and in order . [Paul concludes with a recapitulation. The higher gift is to be sought and the lower gift is not to be prohibited. But as a caution against the abuse of the lower gift, he lays down that rule of order and decorum which the church has too often forgotten to her sorrow.]

Lapide: 1Co 14:1-40

CHAPTER XIV

SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER

i. He puts prophecy before the gift of tongues, because ( a ) it is of great use in edifying others, and tongues are not, unless some one interpret; ( b ) because (Ver. 21) prophecy is given to the faithful, while tongues are a sign to them that believe not, and he proves this from Isaiah xxviii.

ii. He gives a rule for the due use of these gifts, and lays down laws to be observed in the meetings of the Church for public worship; amongst other things he bids (ver. 34) women keep silence always.

The Apostle began in chap. xii. to treat of the various gifts of the Spirit, which He distributes to whom He wills and as He wills; and then, to take away all boasting from the Corinthians about these gifts, and especially about the gift of tongues, he exhorted them, in chap. xiii., to follow after charity as the queen of all graces and gifts; he now, in this chapter, returns to consider these gifts, and points out that not only charity but also prophecy excels the gift of tongues.

The question arises, What does S. Paul mean in this chapter by prophecy and what by a prophet? This is the chief difficulty to be met with here.

The word "prophet," properly speaking, denotes one who, by revelation from God, foretells an event before it comes to pass. The word is of Greek, not Latin, origin, coming from two words denoting to speak beforehand, as though the prophet saw an event before it happened. This is the origin of the word. Like most words, it then acquired a secondary meaning, and was extended to signify one who reveals the secrets of the heart or other mysteries, and one, especially who knows the will of God, and becomes His interpreter and messenger to others, and who sees and proclaims the mysteries of the mind and will of God. So Abraham, from being admitted to familiar intercourse with God, was honoured with the title of prophet (Gen 20:7).

Hence prophecy generally in Scripture is the power of knowing more fully and more surely than is given to most men the counsels and determinations of God, and also of proclaiming them for the purpose of edifying the Church. This power is inspired by the Holy Spirit into some men, who are hence called prophets. A part of this power consists in a provision and prediction of future events, or even of any hidden things, whether past or future. Another part of it, and one that is far more important and more exalted, one not derived from study but inspired by the same Spirit, consists in discoursing more ably and more divinely of the being and attributes of God. If it were derived from study, it would be knowledge and doctrine, not prophecy; and so S. Paul, who received his Gospel, not from man but by the revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal 1:12), taught and preached rather from a constant flow of prophecy than of doctrine.

1. They then are called prophets who, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, forth-tell future events or hidden mysteries.

2. Those teachers only who so exhort to piety are to be called prophets.

3. Those too received the name of prophets who were borne along by a Divine impulse to praise God with hymns and to provoke the people to devotion. So, in 1 Sam. 10, the Spirit of God came on Saul and he prophesied; and again, in chap. 12., he laid aside his clothes and lay down naked, singing his prophecies a whole day and night. Again, since Elijah and EIisha had disciples, who at fixed times, like men devoted to religion, occupied themselves more zealously than others in singing psalms, in prayers and praises, in investigating, meditating on, and teaching the law, and since they sometimes were carried away by the power of the Spirit, as, e.g., he who anointed Jehu—hence all these were called prophets, and their sons or disciples were called sons of the prophets. Frequent mention of them is made in 2 Kings. They were especially so called because among them were some true prophets.

4. Hence the name of prophet is extended to any singers, so that to prophesy is the same as to play or to sing anything in praise of God. So, in 1Ch 25:1, the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun are said to prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals. Still among them there were prophets indeed, such as the leaders of the singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, who, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, composed the psalms that bear their names, as the Hebrews hand down to us by tradition.

(5.) By an abuse of the word, those are called prophets who, under the influence of some evil spirit, lose their self-control, and utter idiotic and frensied sounds. So, in 1Sa 18:9, it is said that "an evil spirit of God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of his house," i.e., he spoke and acted as one demented, like one filled with frensy. Hence the heathen called their poets seers and prophets, because they seemed borne along by the irresistible power of the Muses, as, e.g., the Sibyls in composing and singing their songs. So Ovid ( Fasti, lib. vi. 5.) says—

"God is within us, enkindling us to song,

 And fanning into flame the sparks of heavenly truth."

So, in Tit 1:21, the poet Epimenides is called a prophet.

(6.) "To prophesy" also denotes the working of miracles; for this was the work of prophets, who were holy men, gifted from above, and like organs of God and of His wisdom and power. So, in Ecclus. xlviii., the dead body of Elisha is said to have prophesied, because by its touch it raised a man from the dead (2Ki 13:21). The word "prophet" is so used in S. Luk 7:16.

(7.) To prophesy is to confirm prophecy. So, in Ecclus. xlxx., the bones of Joseph are said to have prophesied after his death, viz., when they were carried with the Israelites out of Egypt, and so testified silently that the prophecy about them was true.

From all these it is evident that prophecy, strictly speaking, is that gift which was frequently given before Christ came, as well as in the Primitive church, but which now for the most part has ceased, and is only vouchsafed to a very few men, for a testimony to their exceptional holiness. The frequency of such gifts was miraculous, and came almost to an end with the Apostles; that is to say, they are not now given, as then, promiscuously, but to very few and very seldom. It was the purpose of the Lord that those miracles should shine forth brightly, to draw the attention of the heathen to the Gospel, and to convince them of its truth. Now, however, that the faith has been well grounded and the world converted, He withdraws them and bids the Church depend for her growth and perfection on the usual instruments of teaching and exhortation. Cf. Jansenius ( Concordia, c. 47).

A second question arises, Which of these various meanings does S. Paul apply here to the word "prophet?" Chrysostom and Theophylact say that he uses the word in the strict meaning of "one who foretells future things." This was his meaning, they say, in chapter xii. Theodoret takes prophecy to mean the revelation of thoughts and other hidden mysteries, and quotes ver. 24 in support of his opinion.

But we should notice that the Apostle is describing in this chapter everything that took place then in the public assemblies of the Church, and that he includes them all under the names of tongues and of prophesying. For the Holy Spirit then would fill many in the Church to sing and speak spiritual songs, hymns, prayers, collects, and psalms in strange tongues, in the presence of an unlettered crowd of all sorts of men, just as He did on the day of Pentecost, as described in Acts ii. This is supported by S. Dionysius ( de Div. Nomin. c. 3) and by Tertullian ( Apol. 29), and the Apostle calls this "the gift of tongues," or "speaking in tongues." To others the Holy Spirit would give the power of ex- pounding Holy Scripture, or of teaching or preaching, or of singing, or of leading the people in exalted prayer in the vulgar tongue, and hence, as Chrysostom and Theodoret point out, of manifesting the secrets of men's hearts, and even of uttering real prophecies. All these things S. Paul includes here under the name of prophecy, especially preaching and teaching, and he opposes them to the gift of tongues. Cf. vers. 4-6, 31, and especially vers. 25, 26. For the prophets of old time not only foretold future things, but taught and preached, and mingled with their teaching psalms and prayers. Therefore the Apostle here puts this kind of prophecy before tongues, and throughout the whole chapter exhorts them to it, and gives directions for its due use and its order in the public assemblies of the Church, both before and after the Eucharist; for in these assemblies one would expound Holy Scripture, another exhort, a third sing a hymn, a fourth a psalm, even sometimes in a foreign tongue. Cf. Ambrose, Anselm, and Philo ( de Essæis ). The word "prophet" has this meaning also in chap. xi. vers. 4, 5.

We must notice too, that S. Paul does not here call all prophets who simply explain the obscure passages of the Prophets or of Holy Scripture, nor yet all those who teach others or exhort, as some writers suppose, but only those who do so by the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and not from learning acquired by laborious study. This is plain from ver. 30, where he says. "If anything be revealed to another, let the first hold his peace," and from ver. 32: "The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." By the name of prophets he means those who were filled with the Holy Spirit, and received from Him some revelation of doctrine, or word of exhortation, or of prayer. This was frequently given then, as appears from ver. 26. But when that influence of the Holy Spirit ceased, it was succeeded by reading of the Scriptures, preaching, psalm-singing before the Mass, during the Mass, and after the Mass. Cf. note on ver. 26.

Ver. 1. — Follow after Charity. Pursue it eagerly so as to obtain it, just as a huntsman pursues a wild animal.

Desire spiritual gifts. These are, S. Chrysostom says, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, not His graces, as, e.g., the gift of tongues or of healing, and the others referred to in chap. xi. S. Paul bids them desire these, try to obtain them, especially by prayer, not from any desire for superiority but from charity, that they may profit others and the Church at large by means of those gifts.

But rather that ye may prophesy. Viz., that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit ye may teach, say, or sing such things as may stir up the devotion of others. This has just been seen to be the force of "prophecy."

Ver. 2. — He that speaketh in a tongue, &c. S. Augustine ( de Gen. ad Litt. lib. xii.), Primasius, and Cajetan read the nominative in the last clause of this verse, "Howbeit the Spirit speaketh mysteries," The meaning then would be: The Holy Spirit speaks of hidden mysteries in the Holy Scriptures, which cannot be understood, except some prophet or doctor interpret them. But this meaning is foreign to the context, and this reading is not supported by the Greek or Latin copies.

Ver. 3. — But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to . . . comfort. This is what I said before, that to prophesy means here to speak words which edify, exhort, and comfort others. Hence, to prophesy is better than to speak in unknown tongues, which no one understands, and from which no one can receive instruction, edification, or comfort.

Ver. 6.— Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues . . . or by doctrine? His tongues would profit them nothing unless he added to them a revelation, that is an explanation of the revelation given him; or knowledge, that is a declaration of what he knew, whether infused by God or acquired by study; or prophecy, that is a statement of what he knew, either by prophecy properly so called or improperly, in the way of explanation of hidden and difficult things, especially of Holy Scripture; or doctrine, that is an accommodation of his discourse to their capacity. Such is pretty nearly the explanation given by S. Thomas and Theophylact. To complete the sense of the verse we must supply: But I shall do nothing of this sort if I merely speak with tongues and do not interpret, so that you may understand me; therefore it is better to prophesy than to speak with tongues, unless some one interpret.

But in the second place we can understand the Apostle's meaning still better if we join knowledge with doctrine, and revelation with prophecy. For, as it was from their stores of knowledge that learned men drew the teaching that they gave others, so was it from revelation that they prophesied. Prophecy is distinguished from doctrine in that it is received by revelation, doctrine from knowledge; for what we teach has been acquired by intellectual study. So Tolatus and Jansenius, in the place quoted above, say that S. Paul's meaning is, "Though I speak in unknown tongues, but do not teach you, whether by knowledge gained by study or by prophecy received by revelation, I shall profit you nothing."

Thirdly, Cassianus ( Collat xiv. 8) sees here the four senses of Holy Scripture: in the doctrine the literal sense, in the revelation the allegorical, in the knowledge the tropological, in the prophecy the allegorical. But this is a mystical and symbolic interpretation.

Ver. 7.— And even things without life, &c. That tongues profit nothing unless they are understood can be seen, even from a comparison drawn from inanimate things; for a pipe or harp are of no use unless they give a distinct sound. Unless a man knows what is played he will take no pleasure in the sounds, nor will he be induced to dance to the music.

Ver. 9.— So likewise ye . . . how shall it be known what is spoken. For the tongue is the stamp, the image, the index, and messenger of the mind. As Aristotle says ( Peri Hermen. lib. ii.), "words are signs of the feelings which lie concealed in the soul." Hence Socrates used to determine the mind and character of any one from his voice, and would say, "Speak, young man, that I may see you." But this cannot be if the language of the speaker is unknown to the hearer.

Ver. 10.— There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. As a matter of fact, or for example, there are many different languages: no nation is without its language, no language without its meaning. Others, as Œcumenius, refer the none to the instrument, and say that no pipe or harp but has its proper sound; others, more generally, no object is without its voice. As Ausonius sings to Paulinus:—

"No creature silent is, nor winged bird,

 Nor beast that walks the earth, nor hissing snake:

 The cymbals smitten sound, the stage when struck

 By dancers' feet, the drum its echo gives."

The best meaning, however, is that no tongue is void of meaning.

Ver. 11 . — I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian. As Ovid says:—

"A barbarian here am I, and understood by none."

The word "barbarian" is onomatopoetic, and was first applied by the Greeks to any one who spoke another language than Greek; then by the Romans to one who spoke neither Greek nor Latin; afterwards it denoted any one who spoke any other tongue but that of his native country. Hence Anacharsis the Scythian, when ridiculed as a barbarian by the Athenians, well replied, "The Scythians are barbarians to the Athenians, the Athenians just as much barbarians to the Scythians."

Ver. 12. — Forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts. Since ye desire to have the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit enumerated in chap. xii, seek them from God abundantly, that ye may use them, not for ostentation, but for the perfecting of the Church.

Ver. 13 . — Let him that speaketh. . . pray that he may interpret. Paul is here speaking of public prayer, in which one man, even though a layman, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would offer up prayer in an audible voice before all, the others listening, and joining their prayers to his. This is the meaning, as appears from the following verses. But Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Anselm explain it thus: Let him pray that he may receive the gift of the interpretation of tongues, so as to make his own prayer intelligible to others.

Ver. 14 . — For if I pray in an unknown tongue my spirit prayeth. (1.) My spirit is refreshed; (2.) according to S. Chrysostom, the gift of the Holy Spirit which is in me prayeth, makes me pray and utter my prayer in public. (3.) Theophylact and Erasmus, following S. Basil, understand breath by spirit; in other words, My voice, produced by the vital and vocal breath, prays; but my mind is unfruitful, because it does not understand the meaning of the words uttered. Primasius, too, says that the word "spirit" here is to be understood of prayers uttered sometimes while the mind is thinking of something else. But the first is the true sense, and best fits in with what follows. S. Thomas, commenting on this clause, gives three other meanings, but they are not those in the Apostle's mind.

But my understanding is unfruitful. S. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Ambrose, S. Thomas, and Cajetan think that the Apostle is speaking here of those who had received the gift of tongues, but who, like Balaam's ass, did not understand what they said, or at all events did not enter into the mysteries contained in their words. S. Augustine says the same ( de Gen. ad Litt. lib. xii. c. 8 and 9), and it is gathered from ver. 28. For these prayed without fruit in such tongues; for, though their spirit fed on God in pious devotion, yet their mind was not fed on any understanding, of the words of the prayer.

But I say that the Greek νοΰς here is the same as "meaning." It is so rendered in the Latin in ver. 19, and in chap. ii. 16, and in Rev. xvii. 9, where we read, "Here is the meaning" (of the vision of the beast) "which hath wisdom." S. Paul makes the same distinction between the tongue and the mind, or the letter and the spirit, which is so common amongst rhetoricians. "Sense" or meaning here is passive understanding, that by which I am understood by all—not active, by which I understand things. This "mind," or signification of tongues, is without fruit, because no one takes it in, and no one is aroused to devotion. This is the natural meaning, and S. Basil seems to hold it ( in Reg. Brev. Interrog. 278).

Secondly, Œcumenius and Theodoret give an explanation which is not improbable: My mind, or my aim and object, is without fruit, not on the part of the speaker but the hearer, whom the speaker strives to excite to piety. It is certain, from vers. 14, 16 and 19, that S. Paul is speaking of fruit on the side of the hearers; for he is speaking of the prayers and spiritual songs which some of the laity composed under the influence of the Holy Spirit, and uttered in public, or sang in the church at the time of their spiritual feasts, for the comfort, instruction, or exhortation of the people. He wishes them to be said in the vulgar tongue, so as to be understood by all; otherwise, he says, they would be fruitless.

You will perhaps say that the Mass and Canonical Hours ought then to be said now in the vulgar tongue. I deny that this follows, for the Apostle is speaking of the prayers which any lay person might compose for the edification or quickening of the people, not of the public Divine offices, which the clergy now perform with the approbation, not to say at the command, and in the name of the whole Church, to worship and praise God with a solemn and uniform majesty in Latin. For if the vernacular tongue were used, it would come to pass (1.) that the uneducated would not understand Divine mysteries, or rather they would misunderstand them, and accept heretical opinions; (2.) the language would have to vary with the countries, or even with the cities. Although all the Germans speak the same language, yet each province has a different idiom: the Westphalians have one, the Swiss another, the Hessians another, and so on. And so if the Divine office were said in the vernacular, in such a difference of dialects division would arise, and sacred things would be ridiculed and despised.

You will urge, secondly, perhaps that the people do not understand Latin: what fruit then have they from the Latin Mass? I answer, (1.) They participate in the sacrifice and also the sacrament if they wish to; (2.) in all the prayers which the priest offers for all men, and especially for those present; (3.) they are inflamed by the decent rites and ceremonies to devotion and elevation of their souls to God in private prayer, especially since parish priests are bound, by the Council of Trent (sess. xxii. c. 8), to explain the service to the people in their sermons. See Bellarmine ( de Verbo. Dei. lib. ii. c. 16).

Ver. 15.— I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. I will pray with sense and meaning, intelligibly, so that others may understand me. S. Paul alludes to Psa 47:7, where the same double meaning of understanding on the part of speaker and hearer is found.

Ver. 16 . — Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, &c. To bless here is to praise God with heart and mouth. S. Thomas understands it of the public blessing of the people; so also do Primasius, Haymo, and Salmeron, the latter of whom strives by many arguments to prove that the Apostle is speaking here of the sacrifice of the Mass, in which the priest blesses God rather than the people; for the two Greek words for "blessing" and "giving thanks," used indifferently by the Evangelists and S. Paul in their accounts of the institution of the Eucharist, are used here, and seem to point to the Mass. It hence derives its names of the "Blessing" and the "Eucharist," or giving of thanks. Add to this that in all the liturgies of the Mass, including those of S. James, S. Clement, S. Basil, and S. Chrysostom, after the consecration of the bread and wine, the people are wont to answer "Amen!" The Apostle, then, seems to mean here that public blessings, prayers, and Masses should not be celebrated in the church in an utterly unknown tongue, but that among the Greeks Greek should be used, among the Hebrews Hebrew, and among the Latins Latin; for these languages are for the most part understood by all who are of each race respectively. If it is impossible to use one language which is understood by all the different peoples who hear the same Mass, then one which is the best known should be selected, such as Latin among us, so that many "in the room of the unlearned" may answer "Amen!" as the Apostle requires.

But that the Apostle is not speaking of the solemn blessing in the Mass, but of any other uttered by some private member, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, in hymn or psalm or prayer, appears (1.) from the Greek particle for else, which, in its meaning of because, gives the cause of the preceding verse. The singular, used in "thy giving of thanks," points also to the private and personal devotion of each of the faithful. (2.) It appears from the drift of the whole chapter, and especially from the conclusion, stated in ver. 26, "Let all things be done to edifying." (3.) It appears again from ver. 31, where he says: "Ye may all prophesy one by one;" and from ver. 29 "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge;" but it was of any one's fresh and private blessing, or prophecy that they were to judge; for the common prayer and liturgy of the whole Church, having been approved of by the whole Church, ought not to be subjected to examination for judgment. All this will better appear from the next paragraph.

The unlearned. Gagneius, following Severian, says the unlearned is the catechumen. Primasius says he is a neophyte. Chrysostom, Ephrem, Theophylact, S. Thomas, and others give the best meaning, viz., one untaught, unlettered, and with no knowledge of tongues.

S. Thomas, Primasius, and Haymo take the "unlearned" here to be the minister who at Divine service says "Amen!" for the people at the end of the Collects. These Fathers say that S. Paul means that at all events the minister at the Mass and other sacred rites should be able to understand the priest, or him who offers up prayer in public, in any other language than the vernacular, and should be able to respond, "Amen!" This is good and fitting teaching, but not necessarily the one uppermost in the mind of the Apostle.

But the "unlearned" here denotes, not some minister of the sacred rites, but any one of the laity. The Greek gives us, "he who sits among the unlearned" that is, is himself unlearned. Prophets and teachers used to sit in one place, the lay people in another. This is the explanation given by Chrysostom and Theophylact. Justin ( Apol. 2) says that the whole of the laity, and consequently any individual of it, was wont to answer "Amen!" Hence S. Jerome, towards the end of his commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, says that the people used to answer "Amen!" with a noise like thunder. A minister now says it for the people, so as to prevent a confused murmuring.

The Apostle is speaking here, we must notice once more, of the extempore prayer of the individual, uttered for the purpose of edifying, and which might possibly contain some doctrinal error, as is hinted in ver. 29. He directs that in such prayers the vulgar be used, so that the people may not answer "Amen!" to a prayer in an unknown tongue which is meaningless, absurd, or heretical. He is not speaking of prayers approved by the Church, which for that very reason are free from error, to which a single minister makes reply, and to which the people can add private prayers of their own. Moreover, the Council of Trent orders that sometimes, instead of the sermon, these prayers be explained to the people.

Again, it is lawful to pray in a language not understood by the person who prays, if you are certain that the prayers are good ones, as, e.g., when nuns say the Canonical Hours in Latin. In the same way the laity, when the priest offers up prayers in Latin, can pray with him, and add the intention of seeking that the priest may obtain for himself and all the people what he asks in the name of the Church in the beautiful prayers provided. And even if they do not understand them, and get no nourishment for their understanding from the meaning of the prayers, yet they reap the fruit of devotion to God, and of reverence towards the prayers; nay, they merit and obtain more than those who understand them if they pray with more humility, piety, and fervour.

S. Jordanes, when asked whether such prayers as these of nuns were pleasing to God, well replied: " Just as a jewel in the hand of a peasant who knows not its value is worth as much as if it were in the hand of a goldsmith or jeweller who knew its value, so too prayers in the mouth of one who does not understand them are worth as much as if they were uttered by one who knew their meaning." A petition presented to a king by an ignorant peasant would obtain as much consideration as one presented by a learned man; for it is written: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise;" and again, "If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out" (S. Mat 21:16; S. Luk 19:40). In the same way, in the "Lives of the Fathers," Abbot Pastor is related to have said to one who complained to him, that though he prayed he felt no contrition, because he knew not the meaning of the words that he used: " Do you none the less persevere in prayer, for like as a charmer sings words which the snake hears but understands not, and yet is subdued and tamed by them, so when we use words whose meaning we know not, the devils hear them and understand them, and are terrified and driven away." Cf. S. Thomas and Cajetan.

The case is different with the Lord's Prayer, which every one ought to learn and intelligently use in the vernacular, that he may know exactly what he should ask of God, as has been often laid down in synods. Cajetan, on the other hand, gathers from this passage that it is better for organs, and musical instruments generally, to be excluded from church services, in order that the Hours and the Masses may be sung so as to be understood, and so that the people may be able to answer "Amen!" But the practice of the Church is against this, which makes use of organs and other musical instruments in Divine service, as David did, to stir up the devotion of the people, who just as little understand the Latin language. The Church does this for three reasons: (1.) as we join in praising God, not only in spirit but also in body, so we should praise Him, not only with the best music of the voice, but also of instruments; for every spirit, every creature, every instrument ought to praise Him whose due never can be reached. (2.) To arouse the listeners, and especially the uneducated, to religious fervour, as David and Elisha were enkindled by psalms and harps, and as Saul was stirred up by music to give God praise. (3.) That the beauty, solemnity, and majesty of Divine service may be the greater. Prudentius, in his Apotheosis, written against the Jews, and the Faculty of Paris, in its decree (tit. xix. prop. 6), explain this verse thus: "When St. Paul says that in the church he would rather speak five words with his understanding than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue, he is speaking of sermons addressed to the people, in which a flow of words void of thought is useless. He says nothing about Church canticles, which are governed by another law."

Nevertheless, we must in these matters guard against lightness, as the Council of Trent bids. Hence S. Augustine ( Hom. in Ps. xxxiii.) says that pipes and organs used in theatres had been rejected by the Church, because the heathen used them then for lust in the theatres, and for banquets, and at their sacrifices. But, following the example and injunctions of David, we may use organs and other musical instruments, if it be done with piety, soberness, and gravity (cf. Ps. cl.). S. John, too (Rev. v. 8, and xiv. 2), heard in heaven, where all are perfected, harps, though of course more solemn and Divine than ours on earth.

Amen. Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodoret have translated this faithfully or truly ; the Septuagint, so be it. "Amen" signifies truly or even firmly. It is not the expression of an oath, but of one who affirms or confirms. It is used as an affirmation when it is put at the beginning of a sentence, as, e.g., "Amen, Amen, I say unto you." And in this sense S. Augustine ( in Joan. Tract. 41) calls "Amen" the oath of Christ, because Christ's oath was not strictly an oath but a simple affirmation. It is a mark of confirmation when put at the end of a prayer, or it signifies the consent of the hearer; it sometimes marks an assertion and agreement, sometimes a wish. It stands for agreement in Deut. xxvii., where the people are bidden to answer "Amen" in token that they were willing to accept the blessings for keeping the law and the curses for breaking it. But in a prayer, as, e.g., in the Lord's Prayer, it merely denotes a wish that what is sought for in the prayer may be obtained. The Rabbinical writers say that there are two "Amens," one perfect and the other imperfect in three ways: (1.) that of a pupil, when "Amen" is said, not as though the prayer is understood, but it is left to the direction of another to dictate it, as it were; (2.) when the "Amen" is said before the end of the prayer it is called "surreptitious," (3.) and "divided" when the answer is given by one who is not thinking of the prayer, because he is occupied with something else.

Ver. 18 . — I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all. The Latin rendering is, "I speak with the tongues of you all," which suggests the question, What could be S. Paul's meaning in this, since there was but one tongue in Greece, and at Corinth in particular, viz., Greek? Haymo's answer is that he refers to the different dialects of Greek. A better answer would be, that foreigners and merchants of all nations flocked to Corinth as a great emporium, just as to-day, at Antwerp, Venice, or Paris, we find the commerce and language of the French, Italians, and English, and other nations, and that S. Paul is therefore referring to the different languages to be heard in the streets of Corinth, But Ephrem, Chrysostom, Jerome ( ad Hedibiam ), and others support the rendering of the text. All the tongues that you speak and more I speak: I do not extol, I do not condemn the gift of tongues, for I use it myself, but I do not use it, as you do, for ostentation, but to edification.

Ver. 19— Ye in the church I had rather speak, &c. A very few words spoken so as to be understood are better than a multitude of foreign words not understood by the hearer.

Notice (1.) that understanding is to be taken here passively, and denotes the meaning by which I and my speech are understood; hence he adds, "that I might teach others also." For there is a contrast between the meaning, and the foreign tongue understood by no one. See note to ver. 14. But (2.) Anselm takes it of the active understanding, that by which I myself understand what I say, and so can better explain it to others. (3.) Chrysostom says that it means with judgment—that he would rather speak and teach with tact and judgment, so that the hearers, no matter how rude and uncultured they might be, might take in and retain what he said. But the first sense is the best, and most to the point.

Ver. 20.— Brethren, be not children in understanding. Understanding here is not the same word in the Greek as in the preceding verse: It can, with Chrysostom and Ephrem, be rendered "mind."—Do not become children in mind, judgment, and reason, so as to display your gift of tongues as children might.

Howbeit in malice be ye children. Chrysostom, Theophylact, and Ephrem render this: "Let malice be as unknown to you as to infants." So, too, S. Augustine (qu. lxi. lib. 73) says: "Be, like infants, free from malice." As "infant" is derived from in, "not," and fans, "speaking," and as a child who cannot speak knows still less of malice or anything else, so too the Christian is to be an infant in evil, not to know it nor to be able to speak of it, e.g., not to know what emulation, defilement, fornication are. So Theophylact following S. Chrysostom. Tertullian ( contra Valent. lib. ii.) beautifully says: " The Apostle bids us after God be children again, that we may be infants in malice through our simplicity, and at last wise in understanding." Clement of Alexandria ( Pæd. lib. i. c. 5) has pointed out that "children" here is not synonymous with "fools." The whole of his chapter, in which he points out how all Christians should be children, may be studied with advantage.

Ver. 21 . — In the law. Viz., Isa 28:11. As Chrysostom remarks, the law is sometimes used to denote, not merely the Pentateuch, but also the Prophets and the whole of the Old Testament.

It is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people. This is a difficult passage, and to understand it we must explain the passage in Isaiah cited by the Apostle. The prophet's meaning in vers. 9 and 10 is, that God is wont to teach knowledge and wisdom to those who have left childish delights and an immature age, and are men with the capacity for knowledge; but these Jews, who (ver. 7) take delight in the pleasures of wine and in drunkenness, are like children—do not take solid food—and are consequently unfitted for doctrine and true wisdom. Filled with wine, they scoff at me and at other prophets who denounce to them punishments from heaven for their drunkenness and other sins, and they say. "Precept must be upon precept, line upon line . . . here a little and there a little."

S. Jerome and Haymo point out that in this passage there is an ironical play upon words. Isaiah and other prophets were often saying, "Thus saith," or, "Thus ordereth the Lord." Hence the Jews, when drunken over their cups, would repeat in derision, "Order and order again" (precept upon precept), "Expect and expect again" (line upon line). It was as if they had said: "The prophets are always dinning into our ears, 'Thus saith the Lord,' and are always threatening or promising things which never come to pass, bidding us expect here a little and there a little, and nothing comes of it all." The same is oftentimes the experience of preachers, that the wicked ridicule, repeat, and sneer at their sermons and threatenings. Rabbi David, Rabbi Abraham, and after them Vatablus, Isidorus, Clarius, Pagninus, and Forterius give a very cold rendering to this verse (10)—"precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little." The meaning then is: "These Jews are taught roughly and gradually line upon line, just as boys are taught their alphabet." But the following verses show that the prophet had in his mind scoffers and mockers, not untaught boys, for the punishments threatened are against scorners. S. Paul renders the sense of Isaiah and not the exact words: he applies the passage of Isaiah to the gift of tongues bestowed on the Apostles, who spoke with other tongues, not to scoff but to edify.

The sense then is: God, speaking by Isaiah, says: "My exhortation to repentance, given by Isaiah and other prophets, seemed to you, 0 Jews, troublesome and ridiculous, just as if I had spoken to you with inarticulate sounds or in a foreign tongue; hence you imitate what seem to you the meaningless sounds of the prophets, and you repeat in mockery their words. Wherefore, by the Chaldeans, who seem to you stammerers and lispers, will I punish you, that they, as the ministers of My righteousness, may restrain your unbelief by the strange sounds of their foreign tongue, and may ridicule you as their captives, and in their language mock and condemn your Hebrew words; and they shall serve as a type of the Apostles, whom in the time of Christ I will send to reprove your equal unbelief then, by the gift of unknown tongues, and they shall seem to you as men that lisp or speak indistinctly, and they shall be scoffed at by you and the wise of this world as foolish preachers of the Cross of Christ."

The literal meaning of Isaiah refers to his own time, and to the Chaldeans who were to overthrow Jerusalem; the allegorical refers to the gift of tongues given to the Apostles for a sign, not to the faithful but to unbelievers, of the malediction with which God punishes the incredulous, not of the benediction with which He teaches His own servants. This verse of S. Paul shows the sense of Isaiah. Cf. S. Jerome and Cyril on Isa. xxviii.

Ver. 22.— Wherefore tongues are for a sign . . . to them that believe not. Viz., to the unbelieving Jews, both here and in Isaiah xxviii, rather than to the Gentiles. This sign must therefore not be used by the faithful for vain glory.

Prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. The teaching of the word of God and exhortation are a sign of the blessing with which God trains up His servants, and stirs them up to every good work (see ver. 3). Sign here is not the same as "miracle," for the Chaldeans worked no miracle when in their own tongue they chided the Jews; but sign stands for a symbol, and mark of reproof, teaching, and exhortation. But understand what has been said of the believing and unbelieving, as applying to them primarily and principally; for in a secondary sense tongues serve for a sign to the faithful, and prophecy to the unbelievers. Cf. vers. 23 and 25.

Vers. 23, 24.— If therefore the whole church, . . . he is judged of all. If all speak together confusedly and noisily, they will seem to be mad; but if all teach the faith from the Scriptures and other authorities, and preach of the way to lead a right life, the outsider will be convinced of, and reproved for, his unbelief and evil life, by all the teachers and preachers.

Ver. 25 . — And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest. Out of the gift of discerning of spirits, or because God directs the tongue of the prophet, i.e., the preacher, the most hidden sins of his heart will be described and reproved, and the man will think that the preacher speaks as a prophet to him in particular. It is evident from this that this was a common occurrence; it is also evident that these teachers and preachers were, strictly speaking, real prophets.

There is a parallel case in the, life of S. Augustine by Possidonius (c. 15), where it is said that on one occasion S. Augustine left the subject that he had decided to speak on, and discoursed on Manichæism. This led to the conversion of a certain Manichæan, who chanced to be present, as S. Augustine afterwards learnt. He believed it to be due to the direct guidance of God. Hence ( de Doct. Christ. lib. iv. c. 15) he says that prayer should always be offered to God before preaching, that He would direct the mind and tongue of the preacher suitably to the capacity and disposition of the audience.

Others, however, understand "the secrets of his heart" to mean the sins which the unbeliever or unlearned has, but which he does not know to be sins, e.g., when he does not know that idolatry and fornication are sinful. He will learn this when he hears the prophet discoursing about them, and condemning them as sinful. But the first meaning is the best.

Ver. 26 . — How is it then, brethren? . . . Let all things be done unto edifying. "Every one of you" is, of course, distributive. It is not meant that each one had all these things, but one had one thing, another another. Whoever of you has a psalm, or a doctrine, or a revelation, or an interpretation, or the gift of tongues, let him sing the praises of God, or pour forth his prayers and other devotions.

Hath a psalm. The grace of composing and singing psalms or hymns. So Pliny writes to Trajan that the Christians were wont to sing hymns before dawn to Christ as God.

Hath a revelation. A revelation and exposition, either of some difficult passage of Holy Scripture, or of some future or unrevealed event.

We should notice from this passage that in the Primitive Church the rites and order of Divine Service, instituted by Paul and the other Apostles, were somewhat as follows: (1.) Psalms were sung by all; (2.) the Holy Scriptures were read; (3.) the Bishop preached; (4.) then followed the Eucharist, which at that time consisted of simply the oblation, the consecration, communion, the canon and Lord's Prayer, and some collect to which the people answered, "Amen." (5.) All communicated; (6.) some, inspired by the Holy Spirit, would utter or sing, in different tongues, psalms or hymns to the praise of God, others would prophesy; (7.) some, after the Jewish fashion, would interpret the Holy Scriptures or give an exhortation, and that by two or three, especially prophets or men full of the Spirit; others would listen and then ask questions about what had been said. This was done even by the women, though this was an abuse corrected by S. Paul; and when anything particularly good or pious was said, they would all exclaim together, "Amen, amen! " (8.) All was concluded with the agape, which was a common feast and a symbol of brotherly love, after which prayers and hymns again were used. Justin, in the passage quoted below, enumerates all these in order. He says: " In all the oblations which we offer we praise with thanksgiving " (the first part) " the Maker of all, through His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit; and on the day called Sunday there is an assembly of all who live in town or country, and the commentaries of the Apostles or writings of the Prophets are read " (the second part). " Then when the reader ceases, he who presides delivers a sermon, in which he instructs the people, or exhorts them to practise the good things they have heard " (the third part). " Upon this we all rise together and offer up prayers, and as I have said, when the prayers are finished, bread is offered with wine and water; and the same president, as far as he can, offers up prayers and thanks givings, and the people answer with acclamation, 'Amen! '" (the fourth part). " Then there is made a distribution, and communication with thanksgiving to each one present, of the gifts, and the same is sent by means of the deacons to the absent " (the fifth part)—Justin ( Apol. ii . ad Ant.). The sixth, seventh, and eighth parts are described indiscriminately by Tertullian ( Apol. xxxix.): " Our supper shows its nature by its name of agape, which denotes love. We do not sit down to it without first praying to God. Then follows washing of the hands, lights are brought in, and as each one is able from the Holy Scriptures or his own gifts, he utters praise aloud, and the feast is ended also with prayer." Philo ( de Essæis ) gives a similar account.

We must notice, secondly, that these gifts and this fervour were of short continuance. Still, the Church has retained as far as possible the order and method then observed. Hence our present customs are the legitimate descendants of the eight mentioned above.

1. To the saying of psalms, &c., have succeeded the Hours of Mattins, Lauds, and Prime.

2. To the prophecies, readiness with exposition and homilies, not only in the Hours, but also in the Mass, in the form of the Epistle and Gospel.

3. After the Gospel comes the sermon.

4. Now as then we have the Mass, in which, at the end of the collect, a clerk says "Amen!" for the people.

The fifth, as well as the sixth, seventh, and eighth, have fallen somewhat into abeyance, except that hymns and the Lesser Hours are sung after Mass, and that monks, in their assemblies for worship, are wont to discourse of spiritual things, as Cassian relates ( Collat. Patrum ).

Ver. 27.— If any man speak in an unknown tongue . . .. let one interpret. This verse depends on the foregoing clause, "Let all things be done to edifying." If any one sing, or teach, or speak with a tongue, let all be done to edifying, so that, e.g., if tongues are used, then let only two, or at the most three, in each assembly speak, and that in their turns, so that there may be no confusion; and let one interpret, so that the hearers may understand what is said.

Ver. 29 . — Let the prophets speak two or three, viz., their prophecies or revealed truths, or intuitions or exhortations inspired into them by God. See what was said at the beginning of the chapter.

And let the other judge. Let the other prophets, not the people, judge by the gift they have whether what the prophet or teacher says is prophecy indeed, that is sound and wholesome doctrine, or not; for it does not belong to the laity to judge of the doctrines of religion, as heretics infer from this verse. It would be as absurd and foolish for the people to judge of prophecies, prophets, teachers, and pastors as for a scholar to judge his teacher, a sheep its shepherd, and a soldier his commander.

Ver. 30.— If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. Let him rise and speak; let the first cease and sit down. S. Ambrose says: " This is a custom of the synagogue which S. Paul borrows and enjoins on us. The elders in dignity sit in their chairs while discoursing, those next to them sit on lower seats, the last on mats spread on the pavement. If anything happens to be revealed to these last, he bids that they be listened to: they are not to be despised, for they are members of the same body. "

Ver. 31.— For ye may all prophesy . . . and all may be comforted. All the prophets can exhort in their turn, if only the method and order laid down above be observed, and so all can receive exhortation and consolation. The word for "may be comforted" occurs again in 2Cor. i. 6. Some take it as active, when the meaning becomes, "that all may learn when they hear, and may teach when they speak and exhort."

Ver. 32 . — And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. The prophets can, when they wish, restrain the spirit of prophecy, and keep silence, and give place to other prophets; they are not forced to speak by an irresistible impulse, like heathen fanatics; for, as S. Thomas says, the spirit or gift of prophecy is not a habit but is partly an inspiration, or impartation of light and truth, by which God illuminates the prophet's mind in regard to facts that are future, hidden, or Divine; it is partly a force or impulse by which God touches the heart and impels it to prophesy, while preserving the freedom of the will. So Jonah and Jeremiah restrained themselves on occasion, as did Moses (Exo 4:30). S. Chrysostom's explanation is different. The gift of prophecy, he says, which the prophet has is subject to the judgment of the College of Prophets; but the first sense is more to the context, for S. Paul is giving the reason why the prophets ought in turn to give way to each other and be silent, viz., because the prophetical spirit was under their control.

Ver. 33 . — For God is not the author of confusion. He does not compel these or those to prophesy at the same time, to make a noise and disturb each other, and so cause such a confusion as is commonly found in uproarious crowds.

Ver. 34 . — Let women keep silence in the churches. Ambrose, and after him Anselm, say that even the prophetesses are to keep silence: (1.) Because it is against the order of nature and of the Law, in Gen 3:16, for women, who have been made subject to men, to speak in their presence. (2.) Because it is opposed to the modesty and humility which befits them. (3.) Because man is endowed with better judgment, reason, discursive power, and discretion than woman. (4.) She is rightly bidden, says S. Anselm, to keep silence, because when she spoke it was to persuade man to sin (Gen 3:6). (5.) To curb her loquacity, for, as it is said, "when two women quarrel it is like the beating of two cymbals or the clanging of two bells." This might readily enough happen in the church if they were allowed to teach. About this silence enjoined on women, see notes on 1Ti 2:9. How much is it then against the command of S. Paul, against all law, right, and seemliness, for a woman to be the head of a church!

Tropologically woman stands for passion and lust, man for reason. Let the first then be silent and obey the reason. Cf. S. Chrysostom ( Hom. 37 in Morali. ). Aristotle ( de Nat. Animal. lib. ix. c. 1) says: " Woman is more pitiful and more inclined to tears than man; also more envious, more ready to complain, to utter curses, and to revenge; she is besides more anxious and desponding than man, more pert and untruthful, and more easily deceived."

Ver. 35. — And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home. Hence Primasius says that men ought to be well taught enough to teach their wives in matters of faith. But what if they are themselves untaught, as is often the case? Who, then, is to teach the woman? Primasius answers that they have preachers, confessors, and teachers to instruct them. Again, it is better for them to be ignorant of some things that are not essentials than to ask and learn about them in public, to their own shame and the scandal of the Church.

You may say that it is recorded in S. Luk 2:38 that Anna the prophetess spoke in the Temple to all concerning Christ. The answer is that she spoke to all in private, and one by one, not in a church assembly, nor in the Temple properly so called, for neither man nor woman, but the priests alone, were allowed to enter the Temple at Jerusalem. Anna, then, spoke to the women singly in the court of the women; for, as Josephus says, the women had a court distinct from the men's court.

You may say again, "Nuns sing in their churches." I answer that theirs is not a church in the sense of being an assembly of the faithful, but merely a choir of nuns. The Apostle does not forbid women to speak or sing among women, but he forbids it in the common assembly only, where both men and women meet. In this Cajetan agrees. Moreover, S. Paul does not allude to such public speaking as is sanctioned by authority, but that particular and individual speech which consists in teaching, exhorting, and asking questions.

Add to this that he is speaking of married women only, for he orders such to keep silence in the church and be subject to their husbands, and ask them at home what they want to know.

Ver. 36.— What! came the word of God out from you? This is a sarcasm, concluding what had been said in this chapter and the preceding. Did not the Churches of Judæa, Samaria, and Syria believe before you? Look, then, at the order and custom of those Churches, whether they are so contentious about their gifts or make such boasting of their tongues as you do. So Ambrose and Anselm.

Ver. 37 . — If any man think himself to be a prophet, &c. It is the Lord who commands this order to be observed in your assemblies, by my mouth, not directly by Himself.

This verse is an authority for canons passed by the Popes, and for the laws of the Church.

Melancthon replies that Bishops cannot make fresh canons, because, since the whole of the Holy Scripture has been now written, the Bishops have a full and sufficient guide in the word of God; but he says the civil magistrate can pass new laws, because he has not the word of God to follow.

But this is a frivolous answer. The magistrate has not only the law of nature, but a very full and complete code of laws in the statute-book. But if everything has not been provided for there, and the magistrate may add to the number of laws, why may not Bishops do the same? For the word of God has not provided for everything, as may be seen in the additions made to it by the Canon Law.

Moreover, S. Paul is here enacting human and ecclesiastical laws, not Divine ones; and he had besides the word of God, not indeed written, but received by tradition or revelation from God (Gal 1:12), and that much more fully than we have it. If, therefore, it was lawful for him to add his laws to those given by God, it is also lawful for the Pope and the Bishops, who have succeeded Paul, to do the same.

Ver. 38 . — But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. He who is not willing to acknowledge these laws and my power will be ignorant, or ignored or condemned by God, who will say to him, "I know you not," for "he that heareth you hear heareth Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth Me." Ambrose, Jerome, Ephrem, read the future, "will be ignorant." "Let him be ignorant" has a parallel in "He that is filthy, let him be filthy still;" or, as others render it, "He that is ignorant, let him acknowledge himself ignorant, and behave accordingly, and not presume to pass judgment on other men, and on things of which he knows nothing, but let him rather follow others, as leaders in matters of prophecy and doctrine." But I prefer the first reading, that of the Latin Version, as the plainer, truer, and better supported reading.

Ver. 40 . — Let all things be done decently and in order. Like S. Ignatius ( Ep. ad. Philipp. et Tars.), S. Paul had a great care for good order in the Church, especially in things indifferent, both because this order is beautiful and decent in itself, and because it prevents confusion and disturbance, and also because it greatly edifies others, even unbelievers. See notes on Col 2:5.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Lainnya

Evidence: 1Co 14:6

Love will find a way. Indifference will find an excuse. ANONYMOUS

Evidence: 1Co 14:29

" We do not know one-millionth of one percent about anything." (See 1 Cor 8:2) Thomas Edison

Pendahuluan / Garis Besar

Robertson: 1 Corinthians (Pendahuluan Kitab)

First Corinthians

From Ephesus a.d. 54 Or 55

By Way of Introduction

It would be a hard-boiled critic today who would dare deny the genuineness of I Corinthians. The Dutch wild man, Van Manen, did indeed argue that Paul wrote no epistles if indeed he ever lived. Such intellectual banality is well answered by Whateley’s Historic Doubts about Napolean Bonaparte which was so cleverly done that some readers were actually convinced that no such man ever existed, but is the product of myth and legend. Even Baur was compelled to acknowledge the genuineness of I and II Corinthians, Galatians and Romans (the Big Four of Pauline criticism). It is a waste of time now to prove what all admit to be true. Paul of Tarsus, the Apostle to the Gentiles, wrote I Corinthians.

We know where Paul was when he wrote the letter for he tells us in 1Co_16:8 : " But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost." That was, indeed, his plan, but the uproar in Ephesus at the hands of Demetrius caused his departure sooner than he expected (Acts 18:21-20:1; 2Co_2:12.). But he is in Ephesus when he writes.

We know also the time of the year when he writes, in the spring before pentecost. Unfortunately we do not know the precise year, though it was at the close of his stay of three years (in round numbers) at Ephesus (Act_20:31). Like all the years in Paul’s ministry we have to allow a sliding scale in relation to his other engagements. One may guess the early spring of a.d. 54 or 55.

The occasion of the Epistle is made plain by numerous allusions personal and otherwise. Paul had arrived in Ephesus from Antioch shortly after the departure of Apollos for Corinth with letters of commendation from Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:28-19:1). It is not clear how long Apollos remained in Corinth, but he is back in Ephesus when Paul writes the letter and he has declined Paul’s request to go back to Corinth (1Co_16:12). Some of the household of Chloe had heard or come from Corinth with full details of the factions in the church over Apollos and Paul, clearly the reason why Apollos left (1Co_1:10-12). Even Cephas nominally was drawn into it, though there is no evidence that Peter himself had come to Corinth. Paul had sent Timothy over to Corinth to put an end to the factions (1Co_4:17), though he was uneasy over the outcome (1Co_16:10.). This disturbance was enough of itself to call forth a letter from Paul. But it was by no means the whole story. Paul had already written a letter, now lost to us, concerning a peculiarly disgusting case of incest in the membership (1Co_5:9). They were having lawsuits with one another before heathen judges. Members of the church had written Paul a letter about marriage whether any or all should marry (1Co_7:1). They were troubled also whether it was right to eat meat that had been offered to idols in the heathen temples (1Co_8:1). Spiritual gifts of an unusual nature were manifested in Corinth and these were the occasion of a deal of trouble (1Co_12:1). The doctrine of the resurrection gave much trouble in Corinth (1Co_15:12). Paul was interested in the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem (1Co_16:1) and in their share in it. The church in Corinth had sent a committee (Stephanas, Fortunatus, Achaicus) to Paul in Ephesus. He hopes to come himself after passing through Macedonia (1Co_16:5.). It is possible that he had made a short visit before this letter (2Co_13:1), though not certain as he may have intended to go one time without going as he certainly once changed his plans on the subject (2Co_1:15-22). Whether Titus took the letter on his visit or it was sent on after the return of Timothy is not perfectly clear. Probably Timothy returned to Ephesus from Corinth shortly after the epistle was sent on, possibly by the committee who returned to Corinth (1Co_16:17), for Timothy and Erastus were sent on from Ephesus to Macedonia before the outbreak at the hands of Demetrius (Act_19:22). Apparently Timothy had not fully succeeded in reconciling the factions in Corinth for Paul dispatched Titus who was to meet him at Troas as he went on to Macedonia. Paul’s hurried departure from Ephesus (Act_20:1) took him to Troas before Titus arrived and Paul’s impatience there brought him to Macedonia where he did meet Titus on his return from Corinth (2Co_2:12.).

It is clear therefore that Paul wrote what we call I Corinthians in a disturbed state of mind. He had founded the church there, had spent two years there (Acts 18), and took pardonable pride in his work there as a wise architect (1Co_3:10) for he had built the church on Christ as the foundation. He was anxious that his work should abide. It is plain that the disturbances in the church in Corinth were fomented from without by the Judaizers whom Paul had defeated at the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15:1-35; Gal_2:1-10). They were overwhelmed there, but renewed their attacks in Antioch (Gal_2:11-21). Henceforth throughout the second mission tour they are a disturbing element in Galatia, in Corinth, in Jerusalem. While Paul is winning the Gentiles in the Roman Empire to Christ, these Judaizers are trying to win Paul’s converts to Judaism. Nowhere do we see the conflict at so white a heat as in Corinth. Paul finally will expose them with withering sarcasm (2 Corinthians 10-13) as Jesus did the Pharisees in Matthew 23 on that last day in the temple. Factional strife, immorality, perverted ideas about marriage, spiritual gifts, and the resurrection, these complicated problems are a vivid picture of church life in our cities today. The discussion of them shows Paul’s many-sidedness and also the powerful grasp that he has upon the realities of the gospel. Questions of casuistry are faced fairly and serious ethical issues are met squarely. But along with the treatment of these vexed matters Paul sings the noblest song of the ages on love (chapter 1Co_13:1-13) and writes the classic discussion on the resurrection (chapter 1 Corinthians 15). If one knows clearly and fully the Corinthian Epistles and Paul’s dealings with Corinth, he has an understanding of a large section of his life and ministry. No church caused him more anxiety than did Corinth (2Co_11:28).

JFB: 1 Corinthians (Pendahuluan Kitab)

The AUTHENTICITY of this Epistle is attested by CLEMENT OF ROME [First Epistle to the Corinthians, 47], POLYCARP [Epistle to the Philippians, 11], and IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 4.27.3]. The city to which it was sent was famed for its wealth and commerce, which were chiefly due to its situation between the Ionian and Ægean Seas on the isthmus connecting the Peloponese with Greece. In Paul's time it was the capital of the province Achaia and the seat of the Roman proconsul (Act 18:12). The state of morals in it was notorious for debauchery, even in the profligate heathen world; so much so that "to Corinthianize" was a proverbial phrase for "to play the wanton"; hence arose dangers to the purity of the Christian Church at Corinth. That Church was founded by Paul on his first visit (Acts 18:1-17).

He had been the instrument of converting many Gentiles (1Co 12:2), and some Jews (Act 18:8), notwithstanding the vehement opposition of the countrymen of the latter (Act 18:5), during the year and a half in which he sojourned there. The converts were chiefly of the humbler classes (1Co 1:26, &c.). Crispus (1Co 1:14; Act 18:8), Erastus, and Gaius (Caius) were, however, men of rank (Rom 16:23). A variety of classes is also implied in 1Co 11:22. The risk of contamination by contact with the surrounding corruptions, and the temptation to a craving for Greek philosophy and rhetoric (which Apollos' eloquent style rather tended to foster, Act 18:24, &c.) in contrast to Paul's simple preaching of Christ crucified (1Co 2:1, &c.), as well as the opposition of certain teachers to him, naturally caused him anxiety. Emissaries from the Judaizers of Palestine boasted of "letters of commendation" from Jerusalem, the metropolis of the faith. They did not, it is true, insist on circumcision in refined Corinth, where the attempt would have been hopeless, as they did among the simpler people of Galatia; but they attacked the apostolic authority of Paul (1Co 9:1-2; 2Co 10:1, 2Co 10:7-8), some of them declaring themselves followers of Cephas, the chief apostle, others boasting that they belonged to Christ Himself (1Co 1:12; 2Co 10:7), while they haughtily repudiated all subordinate teaching. Those persons gave out themselves for apostles (2Co 11:5, 2Co 11:13). The ground taken by them was that Paul was not one of the Twelve, and not an eye-witness of the Gospel facts, and durst not prove his apostleship by claiming sustenance from the Christian Church. Another section avowed themselves followers of Paul himself, but did so in a party spirit, exalting the minister rather than Christ. The followers of Apollos, again, unduly prized his Alexandrian learning and eloquence, to the disparagement of the apostle, who studiously avoided any deviation from Christian simplicity (1Co 2:1-5). In some of this last philosophizing party there may have arisen the Antinomian tendency which tried to defend theoretically their own practical immorality: hence their denial of the future resurrection, and their adoption of the Epicurean motto, prevalent in heathen Corinth, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die" (1Co 15:32). Hence, perhaps, arose their connivance at the incestuous intercourse kept up by one of the so-called Christian body with his stepmother during his father's life. The household of Chloe informed Paul of many other evils: such as contentions, divisions, and lawsuits brought against brethren in heathen law courts by professing Christians; the abuse of their spiritual gifts into occasions of display and fanaticism; the interruption of public worship by simultaneous and disorderly ministrations, and decorum violated by women speaking unveiled (contrary to Oriental usage), and so usurping the office of men, and even the holy communion desecrated by greediness and revelling on the part of the communicants. Other messengers, also, came from Corinth, consulting him on the subject of (1) the controversy about meats offered to idols; (2) the disputes about celibacy and marriage; (3) the due exercise of spiritual gifts in public worship; (4) the best mode of making the collection which he had requested for the saints at Jerusalem (1Co 16:1, &c.). Such were the circumstances which called forth the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the most varied in its topics of all the Epistles.

In 1Co 5:9, "I wrote unto you in an Epistle not to company with fornicators," it is implied that Paul had written a previous letter to the Corinthians (now lost). Probably in it he had also enjoined them to make a contribution for the poor saints at Jerusalem, whereupon they seem to have asked directions as to the mode of doing so, to which he now replies (1Co 16:2). It also probably announced his intention of visiting them on way to Macedonia, and again on his return from Macedonia (2Co 1:15-16), which purpose he changed hearing the unfavorable report from Chloe's household (1Co 16:5-7), for which he was charged with (2Co 1:17). In the first Epistle which we have, the subject of fornication is alluded to only in a way, as if he were rather replying to an excuse set up after rebuke in the matter, than introducing for the first time [ALFORD]. Preceding this former letter, he seems to have paid a second visit to Corinth. For in 2Co 12:4; 2Co 13:1, he speaks of his intention of paying them a third visit, implying he had already twice visited them. See on 2Co 2:1; 2Co 13:2; also see on 2Co 1:15; 2Co 1:16. It is hardly likely that during his three years' sojourn at Ephesus he would have failed to revisit his Corinthian converts, which he could so readily do by sea, there being constant maritime intercourse between the two cities. This second visit was probably a short one (compare 1Co 16:7); and attended with pain and humiliation (2Co 2:1; 2Co 12:21), occasioned by the scandalous conduct of so many of his own converts. His milder censures having then failed to produce reformation, he wrote briefly directing them "not to company with fornicators." On their misapprehending this injunction, he explained it more fully in the Epistle, the first of the two extant (1Co 5:9, 1Co 5:12). That the second visit is not mentioned in Acts is no objection to its having really taken place, as that book is fragmentary and omits other leading incidents in Paul's life; for example, his visit to Arabia, Syria, and Cilicia (Gal 1:17-21).

The PLACE OF WRITING is fixed to be Ephesus (1Co 16:8). The subscription in English Version, "From Philippi," has no authority whatever, and probably arose from a mistaken translation of 1Co 16:5, "For I am passing through Macedonia." At the time of writing Paul implies (1Co 16:8) that he intended to leave Ephesus after Pentecost of that year. He really did leave it about Pentecost (A.D. 57). Compare Act 19:20. The allusion to Passover imagery in connection with our Christian Passover, Easter (1Co 5:7), makes it likely that the season was about Easter. Thus the date of the Epistle is fixed with tolerable accuracy, about Easter, certainly before Pentecost, in the third year of his residence at Ephesus, A.D. 57. For other arguments, see CONYBEARE and HOWSON'S Life and Epistles of St. Paul.

The Epistle is written in the name of Sosthenes "[our] brother." BIRKS supposes he is the same as the Sosthenes, Act 18:17, who, he thinks, was converted subsequently to that occurrence. He bears no part in the Epistle itself, the apostle in the very next verses (1Co 1:4, &c.) using the first person: so Timothy is introduced, 2Co 1:1. The bearers of the Epistle were probably Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus (see the subscription, 1Co 16:24), whom he mentions (1Co 16:17-18) as with him then, but who he implies are about to return back to Corinth; and therefore he commends them to the regard of the Corinthians.

JFB: 1 Corinthians (Garis Besar)

• THE INSCRIPTION; THANKSGIVING FOR THE SPIRITUAL STATE OF THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH; REPROOF OF PARTY DIVISIONS: HIS OWN METHOD OF PREACHING ONLY CHRIST. (1Co. 1:1-31)
• PAUL'S SUBJECT OF PREACHING, CHRIST CRUCIFIED, NOT IN WORLDLY, BUT IN HEAVENLY, WISDOM AMONG THE PERFECT. (1Co. 2:1-16)
• PAUL COULD NOT SPEAK TO THEM OF DEEP SPIRITUAL TRUTHS, AS THEY WERE CARNAL, CONTENDING FOR THEIR SEVERAL TEACHERS; THESE ARE NOTHING BUT WORKERS FOR GOD, TO WHOM THEY MUST GIVE ACCOUNT IN THE DAY OF FIERY JUDGMENT. THE HEARERS ARE GOD'S TEMPLE, WHICH THEY MUST NOT DEFILE BY CONTENTIONS FOR TEACHERS, WHO, AS WELL AS ALL THINGS, ARE THEIRS, BEING CHRIST'S. (1Co. 3:1-23)
• TRUE VIEW OF MINISTERS: THE JUDGMENT IS NOT TO BE FORESTALLED; MEANWHILE THE APOSTLES' LOW STATE CONTRASTS WITH THE CORINTHIANS' PARTY PRIDE, NOT THAT PAUL WOULD SHAME THEM, BUT AS A FATHER WARN THEM; FOR WHICH END HE SENT TIMOTHY, AND WILL SOON COME HIMSELF. (1Co. 4:1-21)
• THE INCESTUOUS PERSON AT CORINTH: THE CORINTHIANS REPROVED FOR CONNIVANCE, AND WARNED TO PURGE OUT THE BAD LEAVEN. QUALIFICATION OF HIS FORMER COMMAND AS TO ASSOCIATION WITH SINNERS OF THE WORLD. (1Co 5:1-13)
• LITIGATION OF CHRISTIANS IN HEATHEN COURTS CENSURED: ITS VERY EXISTENCE BETRAYS A WRONG SPIRIT: BETTER TO BEAR WRONG NOW, AND HEREAFTER THE DOERS OF WRONG SHALL BE SHUT OUT OF HEAVEN. (1Co 6:1-11)
• REFUTATION OF THE ANTINOMIAN DEFENSE OF FORNICATION AS IF IT WAS LAWFUL BECAUSE MEATS ARE SO. (1Co 6:12-20)
• REPLY TO THEIR INQUIRIES AS TO MARRIAGE; THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE IN OTHER THINGS IS, ABIDE IN YOUR STATION, FOR THE TIME IS SHORT. (1Co. 7:1-40) The Corinthians in their letter had probably asked questions which tended to disparage marriage, and had implied that it was better to break it off when contracted with an unbeliever.
• ON PARTAKING OF MEATS OFFERED TO IDOLS. (1Co 8:1-13) Though to those knowing that an idol has no existence, the question of eating meats offered to idols (referred to in the letter of the Corinthians, compare 1Co 7:1) might seem unimportant, it is not so with some, and the infirmities of such should be respected. The portions of the victims not offered on the altars belonged partly to the priests, partly to the offerers; and were eaten at feasts in the temples and in private houses and were often sold in the markets; so that Christians were constantly exposed to the temptation of receiving them, which was forbidden (Num 25:2; Psa 106:28). The apostles forbade it in their decree issued from Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-29; Act 21:25); but Paul does not allude here to that decree, as he rests his precepts rather on his own independent apostolic authority.
• HE CONFIRMS HIS TEACHING AS TO NOT PUTTING A STUMBLING-BLOCK IN A BROTHER'S WAY (1Co 8:13) BY HIS OWN EXAMPLE IN NOT USING HIS UNDOUBTED RIGHTS AS AN APOSTLE, SO AS TO WIN MEN TO CHRIST. (1Co. 9:1-27)
• DANGER OF FELLOWSHIP WITH IDOLATRY ILLUSTRATED IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL: SUCH FELLOWSHIP INCOMPATIBLE WITH FELLOWSHIP IN THE LORD'S SUPPER. EVEN LAWFUL THINGS ARE TO BE FORBORNE, SO AS NOT TO HURT WEAK BRETHREN. (1Co. 10:1-33)
• CENSURE ON DISORDERS IN THEIR ASSEMBLIES: THEIR WOMEN NOT BEING VEILED, AND ABUSES AT THE LOVE-FEASTS. (1Co. 11:1-34) Rather belonging to the end of the tenth chapter, than to this chapter.
• THE USE AND THE ABUSE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS, ESPECIALLY PROPHESYING AND TONGUES. (1Co. 12:1-31)
• CHARITY OR LOVE SUPERIOR TO ALL GIFTS. (1Co 13:1-13)
• SUPERIORITY OF PROPHECY OVER TONGUES. (1Co. 14:1-25)
• RULES FOR THE EXERCISE OF GIFTS IN THE CONGREGATION. (1Co 14:26-40)
• THE RESURRECTION PROVED AGAINST THE DENIERS OF IT AT CORINTH. (1Co. 15:1-58)
• DIRECTIONS AS TO THE COLLECTION FOR THE JUDEAN CHRISTIANS: PAUL'S FUTURE PLANS: HE COMMENDS TO THEM TIMOTHY, APOLLOS, &C. SALUTATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS. (1Co. 16:1-24)

TSK: 1 Corinthians 14 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

Overview

1Co 14:1, Prophecy is commended, 1Co 14:2, and preferred before speaking with tongues, 1Co 14:6, by a comparison drawn from musical instruments; 1Co 14:12, Both must be referred to edification, 1Co 14:22. as to their true and proper end; 1Co 14:26, The true use of each is taught, 1Co 14:27. and the abuse taxed; 1Co 14:34, Women are forbidden to speak in church.

Poole: 1 Corinthians 14 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 14

MHCC: 1 Corinthians (Pendahuluan Kitab)

The Corinthian church contained some Jews, but more Gentiles, and the apostle had to contend with the superstition of the one, and the sinful conduct of the other. The peace of this church was disturbed by false teachers, who undermined the influence of the apostle. Two parties were the result; one contending earnestly for the Jewish ceremonies, the other indulging in excesses contrary to the gospel, to which they were especially led by the luxury and the sins which prevailed around them. This epistle was written to rebuke some disorderly conduct, of which the apostle had been apprized, and to give advice as to some points whereon his judgment was requested by the Corinthians. Thus the scope was twofold. 1. To apply suitable remedies to the disorders and abuses which prevailed among them. 2. To give satisfactory answers on all the points upon which his advice had been desired. The address, and Christian mildness, yet firmness, with which the apostle writes, and goes on from general truths directly to oppose the errors and evil conduct of the Corinthians, is very remarkable. He states the truth and the will of God, as to various matters, with great force of argument and animation of style.

MHCC: 1 Corinthians 14 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

(1Co 14:1-5) Prophecy preferred to the gift of tongues.

(1Co 14:6-14) The unprofitableness of speaking in unknown languages.

(1Co 14:15-25) Exhortations to worship that can be understood.

(1Co 14:26-33) Disorders from vain display of gifts.

(1Co 14:34-40) And from women speaking in the church.

Matthew Henry: 1 Corinthians (Pendahuluan Kitab)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians

Corinth was a principal city of Greece, in that particular division of it which was called Achaia. It was situated on the isthmus (or neck of land) that joined Peloponnesus to the rest of Greece, on the southern side, and had two ports adjoining, one at the bottom of the Corinthian Gulf, called Lechaeum, not far from the city, whence they traded to Italy and the west, the other at the bottom of the Sinus Saronicus, called Cenchrea, at a more remote distance, whence they traded to Asia. From this situation, it is no wonder that Corinth should be a place of great trade and wealth; and, as affluence is apt to produce luxury of all kinds, neither is it to be wondered at if a place so famous for wealth and arts should be infamous for vice. It was in a particular manner noted for fornication, insomuch that a Corinthian woman was a proverbial phrase for a strumpet, and korinthiazein , korinthiasesthai - to play the Corinthian, is to play the whore, or indulge whorish inclinations. Yet in this lewd city did Paul, by the blessing of God on his labours, plant and raise a Christian church, chiefly among the Gentiles, as seems very probable from the history of this matter, Acts 18:1-18, compared with some passages in this epistle, particularly 1Co 12:2, where the apostle tells them, You know that you wee Gentiles, carried away to those dumb idols even as you were led, though it is not improbable that many Jewish converts might be also among them, for we are told that Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord, with all his house, Act 18:8. He continued in this city nearly two years, as is plain from Act 18:11 and Act 18:18 compared, and laboured with great success, being encouraged by a divine vision assuring him God had much people in that city, Act 18:9, Act 18:10. Nor did he use to stay long in a place where his ministry met not with acceptance and success.

Some time after he left them he wrote this epistle to them, to water what he had planted and rectify some gross disorders which during his absence had been introduced, partly from the interest some false teacher or teachers had obtained amongst them, and partly from the leaven of their old maxims and manners, that had not been thoroughly purged out by the Christian principles they had entertained. And it is but too visible how much their wealth had helped to corrupt their manners, from the several faults for which the apostle reprehends them. Pride, avarice, luxury, lust (the natural offspring of a carnal and corrupt mind), are all fed and prompted by outward affluence. And with all these either the body of this people or some particular persons among them are here charged by the apostle. Their pride discovered itself in their parties and factions, and the notorious disorders they committed in the exercise of their spiritual gifts. And this vice was not wholly fed by their wealth, but by the insight they had into the Greek learning and philosophy. Some of the ancients tell us that the city abounded with rhetoricians and philosophers. And these were men naturally vain, full of self-conceit, and apt to despise the plain doctrine of the gospel, because it did not feed the curiosity of an inquisitive and disputing temper, nor please the ear with artful speeches and a flow of fine words. Their avarice was manifest in their law-suits and litigations about meum - mine, and tuum - thine, before heathen judges. Their luxury appeared in more instances than one, in their dress, in their debauching themselves even at the Lord's table, when the rich, who were most faulty on this account, were guilty also of a very proud and criminal contempt of their poor brethren. Their lust broke out in a most flagrant and infamous instance, such as had not been named among the Gentiles, not spoken of without detestation - that a man should have his father's wife, either as his wife, or so as to commit fornication with her. This indeed seems to be the fault of a particular person; but the whole church were to blame that they had his crime in no greater abhorrence, that they could endure one of such very corrupt morals and of so flagitious a behaviour among them. But their participation in his sin was yet greater, if, as some of the ancients tell us, they were puffed up on behalf of the great learning and eloquence of this incestuous person. And it is plain from other passages of the epistle that they were not so entirely free from their former lewd inclinations as not to need very strict cautions and strong arguments against fornication: see 1Co 6:9-20. The pride of their learning had also carried many of them so far as to disbelieve or dispute against the doctrine of the resurrection. It is not improbable that they treated this question problematically, as they did many questions in philosophy, and tried their skill by arguing it pro and con.

It is manifest from this state of things that there was much that deserved reprehension, and needed correction, in this church. And the apostle, under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit, sets himself to do both with all wisdom and faithfulness, and with a due mixture of tenderness and authority, as became one in so elevated and important a station in the church. After a short introduction at the beginning of the epistle, he first blames them for their discord and factions, enters into the origin and source of them, shows them how much pride and vanity, and the affectation of science, and learning, and eloquence, flattered by false teachers, contributed to the scandalous schism; and prescribes humility, and submission to divine instruction, the teaching of God by his Spirit, both by external revelation and internal illumination, as a remedy for the evils that abounded amongst them. He shows them the vanity of their pretended science and eloquence on many accounts. This he does through the first four chapters. In the fifth he treats of the case of the incestuous person, and orders him to be put out from among them. Nor is what the ancients say improbable, that this incestuous person was a man in great esteem, and head of one party at least among them. The apostle seems to tax them with being puffed up on his account, 1Co 5:2. In the sixth chapter he blames them for their law-suits, carried on before heathen judges, when their disputes about property should have been amicably determined amongst themselves, and in the close of the chapter warns them against the sin of fornication, and urges his caution with a variety of arguments. In the seventh chapter he gives advice upon a case of conscience, which some of that church had proposed to him in an epistle, about marriage, and shows it to be appointed of God as a remedy against fornication, that the ties of it were not dissolved, though a husband or wife continued a heathen, when the other became a Christian; and, in short, that Christianity made no change in men's civil states and relations. He gives also some directions here about virgins, in answer, as is probable, to the Corinthians' enquiries. In the eighth he directs them about meats offered to idols, and cautions them against abusing their Christian liberty. From this he also takes occasion, in the ninth chapter, to expatiate a little on his own conduct upon this head of liberty. For, though he might have insisted on a maintenance from the churches where he ministered, he waived this demand, that he might make the gospel of Christ without charge, and did in other things comply with and suit himself to the tempers and circumstances of those among whom he laboured, for their good. In the tenth chapter he dissuades them, from the example of the Jews, against having communion with idolaters, by eating of their sacrifices, inasmuch as they could not be at once partakers of the Lord's table and the table of devils, though they were not bound to enquire concerning meat sold in the shambles, or set before them at a feast made by unbelievers, whether it were a part of the idol-sacrifices or no, but were at liberty to eat without asking questions. In the eleventh chapter he gives direction about their habit in public worship, blames them for their gross irregularities and scandalous disorders in receiving the Lord's supper, and solemnly warns them against the abuse of so sacred an institution. In the twelfth chapter he enters on the consideration of spiritual gifts, which were poured forth in great abundance on this church, upon which they were not a little elated. He tells them, in this chapter, that all came from the same original, and were all directed to the same end. They issued from one Spirit, and were intended for the good of the church, and must be abused when they were not made to minister to this purpose. Towards the close he informs them that they were indeed valuable gifts, but he could recommend to them something far more excellent, upon which he breaks out, in the thirteenth chapter, into the commendation and characteristics of charity. And them, in the fourteenth, he directs them how to keep up decency and order in the churches in the use of their spiritual gifts, in which they seem to have been exceedingly irregular, through pride of their gifts and a vanity of showing them. The fifteenth chapter is taken up in confirming and explaining the great doctrine of the resurrection. The last chapter consists of some particular advices and salutations; and thus the epistle closes.

Matthew Henry: 1 Corinthians 14 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

In this chapter the apostle directs them about the use of their spiritual gifts, preferring those that are best and fitted to do the greatest good. I. He begins with advising them of all spiritual gifts to prefer prophesying, and shows that this is much better than speaking with tongues (1Co 14:1-5). II. He goes on to show them how unprofitable the speaking of foreign languages is, and useless to the church; it is like piping in one tone, like sounding a trumpet without any certain note, like talking gibberish; whereas gifts should be used for the good of the church (1Co 14:6-14). III. He advises that worship should be celebrated so that the most ignorant might understand, and join in prayer and praise, and presses the advice by his own example (1Co 14:15-20). IV. He informs them that tongues were a sign for unbelievers rather than those that believe; and represents the advantage of prophecy above speaking with tongues, from the different suggestions they would give to the mind of an unbeliever coming into their assemblies (1Co 14:21-25). V. He blames them for the disorder and confusion they had brought into the assembly, by their vanity and ostentation of their gifts; and directs them in using the gifts both of tongues and prophecy (1Co 14:26-33). VI. He forbids women speaking in the church; and closes this subject by requiring them to perform every thing in the public worship with order and decency (1Co 14:34 to the end).

Barclay: 1 Corinthians (Pendahuluan Kitab)

A GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS OF PAUL

The Letters Of Paul

There is no more interesting body of documents in the New Testament than the letters of Paul. That is because of all forms of literature a letter is most personal. Demetrius, one of the old Greek literary critics, once wrote, "Every one reveals his own soul in his letters. In every other form of composition it is possible to discern the writercharacter, but in none so clearly as the epistolary." (Demetrius, On Style, 227). It is just because he left us so many letters that we feel we know Paul so well. In them he opened his mind and heart to the folk he loved so much; and in them, to this day, we can see that great mind grappling with the problems of the early church, and feel that great heart throbbing with love for men, even when they were misguided and mistaken.

The Difficulty Of Letters

At the same time, there is often nothing so difficult to understand as a letter. Demetrius (On Style, 223) quotes a saying of Artemon, who edited the letters of Aristotle. Artemon said that a letter ought to be written in the same manner as a dialogue, because it was one of the two sides of a dialogue. In other words, to read a letter is like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. So when we read the letters of Paul we are often in a difficulty. We do not possess the letter which he was answering; we do not fully know the circumstances with which he was dealing; it is only from the letter itself that we can deduce the situation which prompted it. Before we can hope to understand fully any letter Paul wrote, we must try to reconstruct the situation which produced it.

The Ancient Letters

It is a great pity that Paulletters were ever called epistles. They are in the most literal sense letters. One of the great lights shed on the interpretation of the New Testament has been the discovery and the publication of the papyri. In the ancient world, papyrus was the substance on which most documents were written. It was composed of strips of the pith of a certain bulrush that grew on the banks of the Nile. These strips were laid one on top of the other to form a substance very like brown paper. The sands of the Egyptian desert were ideal for preservation, for papyrus, although very brittle, will last forever so long as moisture does not get at it. As a result, from the Egyptian rubbish heaps, archaeologists have rescued hundreds of documents, marriage contracts, legal agreements, government forms, and, most interesting of all, private letters. When we read these private letters we find that there was a pattern to which nearly all conformed; and we find that Paulletters reproduce exactly that pattern. Here is one of these ancient letters. It is from a soldier, called Apion, to his father Epimachus. He is writing from Misenum to tell his father that he has arrived safely after a stormy passage.

"Apion sends heartiest greetings to his father and lord Epimachus.

I pray above all that you are well and fit; and that things are

going well with you and my sister and her daughter and my brother.

I thank my Lord Serapis [his god] that he kept me safe when I was

in peril on the sea. As soon as I got to Misenum I got my journey

money from Caesar--three gold pieces. And things are going fine

with me. So I beg you, my dear father, send me a line, first to

let me know how you are, and then about my brothers, and thirdly,

that I may kiss your hand, because you brought me up well, and

because of that I hope, God willing, soon to be promoted. Give

Capito my heartiest greetings, and my brothers and Serenilla and

my friends. I sent you a little picture of myself painted by

Euctemon. My military name is Antonius Maximus, I pray for your

good health. Serenus sends good wishes, Agathos Daimonboy, and

Turbo, Galloniuson." (G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek

Papyri, 36).

Little did Apion think that we would be reading his letter to his father 1800 years after he had written it. It shows how little human nature changes. The lad is hoping for promotion quickly. Who will Serenilla be but the girl he left behind him? He sends the ancient equivalent of a photograph to the folk at home. Now that letter falls into certain sections. (i) There is a greeting. (ii) There is a prayer for the health of the recipients. (iii) There is a thanksgiving to the gods. (iv) There are the special contents. (v) Finally, there are the special salutations and the personal greetings. Practically every one of Paulletters shows exactly the same sections, as we now demonstrate.

(i) The Greeting: Rom_1:1 ; 1Co_1:1 ; 2Co_1:1 ; Gal_1:1 ; Eph_1:1 ; Phi_1:1 ; Col_1:1-2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:1 .

(ii) The Prayer: in every case Paul prays for the grace of God on the people to whom he writes: Rom_1:7 ; 1Co_1:3 ; 2Co_1:2 ; Gal_1:3 ; Eph_1:2 ; Phi_1:3 ; Col_1:2 ; 1Th_1:1 ; 2Th_1:2 .

(iii) The Thanksgiving: Rom_1:8 ; 1Co_1:4 ; 2Co_1:3 ; Eph_1:3 ; Phi_1:3 ; 1Th_1:3 ; 2Th_1:3 .

(iv) The Special Contents: the main body of the letters.

(v) Special Salutations and Personal Greetings: Rom 16 ; 1Co_16:19 ; 2Co_13:13 ; Phi_4:21-22 ; Col_4:12-15 ; 1Th_5:26 .

When Paul wrote letters, he wrote them on the pattern which everyone used. Deissmann says of them, "They differ from the messages of the homely papyrus leaves of Egypt, not as letters but only as the letters of Paul." When we read Paulletters we are not reading things which were meant to be academic exercises and theological treatises, but human documents written by a friend to his friends.

The Immediate Situation

With a very few exceptions, all Paulletters were written to meet an immediate situation and not treatises which he sat down to write in the peace and silence of his study. There was some threatening situation in Corinth, or Galatia, or Philippi, or Thessalonica, and he wrote a letter to meet it. He was not in the least thinking of us when he wrote, but solely of the people to whom he was writing. Deissmann writes, "Paul had no thought of adding a few fresh compositions to the already extant Jewish epistles; still less of enriching the sacred literature of his nation.... He had no presentiment of the place his words would occupy in universal history; not so much that they would be in existence in the next generation, far less that one day people would look at them as Holy Scripture." We must always remember that a thing need not be transient because it was written to meet an immediate situation. All the great love songs of the world were written for one person, but they live on for the whole of mankind. It is just because Paulletters were written to meet a threatening danger or a clamant need that they still throb with life. And it is because human need and the human situation do not change that God speaks to us through them today.

The Spoken Word

One other thing we must note about these letters. Paul did what most people did in his day. He did not normally pen his own letters but dictated them to a secretary, and then added his own authenticating signature. (We actually know the name of one of the people who did the writing for him. In Rom_16:22 Tertius, the secretary, slips in his own greeting before the letter draws to an end). In 1Co_16:21 Paul says, "This is my own signature, my autograph, so that you can be sure this letter comes from me." (compare Col_4:18 ; 2Th_3:17 .

This explains a great deal. Sometimes Paul is hard to understand, because his sentences begin and never finish; his grammar breaks down and the construction becomes involved. We must not think of him sitting quietly at a desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he writes. We must think of him striding up and down some little room, pouring out a torrent of words, while his secretary races to get them down. When Paul composed his letters, he had in his mindeye a vision of the folk to whom he was writing, and he was pouring out his heart to them in words that fell over each other in his eagerness to help.

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS

The Greatness Of Corinth

A glance at the map will show that Corinth was made for greatness. The southern part of Greece is very nearly an island. On the west the Corinthian Gulf deeply indents the land and on the east the Saronic Gulf. All that is left to join the two parts of Greece together is a little isthmus only four miles across. On that narrow neck of land Corinth stands. Such a position made it inevitable that it should be one of the greatest trading and commercial centres of the ancient world. All traffic from Athens and the north of Greece to Sparta and the Peloponnese had to be routed through Corinth, because it stood on the little neck of land that connected the two.

Not only did the north to south traffic of Greece pass through Corinth of necessity, by far the greater part of the east to west traffic of the Mediterranean passed through her from choice. The extreme southern tip of Greece was known as Cape Malea (now called Cape Matapan). It was dangerous, and to round Cape Malea had much the same sound as to round Cape Horn had in later times. The Greeks had two sayings which showed what they thought of it--"Let him who sails round Malea forget his home," and, "Let him who sails round Malea first make his will."

The consequence was that mariners followed one of two courses. They sailed up the Saronic Gulf, and, if their ships were small enough, dragged them out of the water, set them on rollers, hauled them across the isthmus, and re-launched them on the other side. The isthmus was actually called the Diolkos, the place of dragging across. The idea is the same as that which is contained in the Scottish place name Tarbert, which means a place where the land is so narrow that a boat can be dragged from loch to loch. If that course was not possible because the ship was too large, the cargo was disembarked, carried by porters across the isthmus, and re-embarked on another ship at the other side. This four mile journey across the isthmus, where the Corinth Canal now runs, saved a journey of two hundred and two miles round Cape Malea, the most dangerous cape in the Mediterranean.

It is easy to see how great a commercial city Corinth must have been. The north to south traffic of Greece had no alternative but to pass through her; by far the greater part of the east to west trade of the Mediterranean world chose to pass through her. Round Corinth there clustered three other towns, Lechaeum at the west end of the isthmus, Cenchrea at the east end and Schoenus just a short distance away. Farrar writes, "Objects of luxury soon found their way to the markets which were visited by every nation in the civilized world--Arabian balsam, Phoenician dates, Libyan ivory, Babylonian carpets, Cilician goatsair, Lycaonian wool, Phrygian slaves."

Corinth, as Farrar calls her, was the Vanity Fair of the ancient world. Men called her The Bridge of Greece; one called her The Lounge of Greece. It has been said that if a man stands long enough in Piccadilly Circus he will in the end meet everyone in the country. Corinth was the Piccadilly Circus of the Mediterranean. To add to the concourse which came to it, Corinth was the place where the Isthmian Games were held, which were second only to the Olympics. Corinth was a rich and populous city with one of the greatest commercial trades in the ancient world.

The Wickedness Of Corinth

There was another side to Corinth. She had a reputation for commercial prosperity, but she was also a byword for evil living. The very word korinthiazesthai, to live like a Corinthian, had become a part of the Greek language, and meant to live with drunken and immoral debauchery. The word actually penetrated to the English language, and, in Regency times, a Corinthian was one of the wealthy young bucks who lived in reckless and riotous living. Aelian, the late Greek writer, tells us that if ever a Corinthian was shown upon the stage in a Greek play he was shown drunk. The very name Corinth was synonymous with debauchery and there was one source of evil in the city which was known all over the civilized world. Above the isthmus towered the hill of the Acropolis, and on it stood the great temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. To that temple there were attached one thousand priestesses who were sacred prostitutes, and in the evenings they descended from the Acropolis and plied their trade upon the streets of Corinth, until it became a Greek proverb, "It is not every man who can afford a journey to Corinth." In addition to these cruder sins, there flourished far more recondite vices, which had come in with the traders and the sailors from the ends of the earth, until Corinth became not only a synonym for wealth and luxury, drunkenness and debauchery, but also for filth.

The History Of Corinth

The history of Corinth falls into two parts. She was a very ancient city. Thucydides, the Greek historian, claims that it was in Corinth that the first triremes, the Greek battleships, were built. Legend has it that it was in Corinth that the Argo was built, the ship in which Jason sailed the seas, searching for the golden fleece. But in 146 B.C. disaster befell her. The Romans were engaged in conquering the world. When they sought to reduce Greece, Corinth was the leader of the opposition. But the Greeks could not stand against the disciplined Romans, and in 146 B.C. Lucius Mummius, the Roman general, captured Corinth and left her a desolate heap of ruins.

But any place with the geographical situation of Corinth could not remain a devastation. Almost exactly one hundred years later, in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar rebuilt her and she arose from her ruins. Now she became a Roman colony. More, she became a capital city, the metropolis of the Roman province of Achaea, which included practically all Greece.

In those days, which were the days of Paul, her population was very mixed. (i) There were the Roman veterans whom Julius Caesar had settled there. When a Roman soldier had served his time, he was granted the citizenship and was then sent out to some newly-founded city and given a grant of land so that he might become a settler there. These Roman colonies were planted all over the world, and always the backbone of them was the contingent of veteran regular soldiers whose faithful service had won them the citizenship. (ii) When Corinth was rebuilt the merchants came back, for her situation still gave her commercial supremacy. (iii) There were many Jews among the population. The rebuilt city offered them commercial opportunities which they were not slow to take. (iv) There was a sprinkling of Phoenicians and Phrygians and people from the east, with their exotic customs and their hysterical ways. Farrar speaks of "this mongrel and heterogeneous population of Greek adventurers and Roman bourgeois, with a tainting infusion of Phoenicians; this mass of Jews, ex-soldiers, philosophers, merchants, sailors, freedmen, slaves, trades-people, hucksters and agents of every form of vice." He characterizes her as a colony "without aristocracy, without traditions and without well-established citizens."

Remember the background of Corinth, remember its name for wealth and luxury, for drunkenness and immorality and vice, and then read 1Co_6:9-10 .

Are you not aware that the unrighteous will not inherit the

Kingdom of God? Make no mistake--neither fornicators, nor

idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sensualists, nor homosexuals, nor

thieves, nor rapacious men, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor

robbers shall inherit the Kingdom of God--and such were some of

you.

In this hotbed of vice, in the most unlikely place in all the Greek world, some of Paulgreatest work was done, and some of the mightiest triumphs of Christianity were won.

Paul In Corinth

Paul stayed longer in Corinth than in any other city, with the single exception of Ephesus. He had left Macedonia with his life in peril and had crossed over to Athens. There he had had little success and had gone on to Corinth, and he remained there for eighteen months. We realize how little we really know of his work when we see that the whole story of that eighteen months is compressed by Luke into 17 verses (Act_18:1-17 ).

When Paul arrived in Corinth he took up residence with Aquila and Prisca. He preached in the synagogue with great success. With the arrival of Timothy and Silas from Macedonia, he redoubled his efforts, but the Jews were so stubbornly hostile that he had to leave the synagogue. He took up his residence with one Justus who lived next door to the synagogue. His most notable convert was Crispus, who was actually the ruler of the synagogue, and amongst the general public he had good success.

In the year A.D. 52 there came to Corinth as its new governor a Roman called Gallio. He was famous for his charm and gentleness. The Jews tried to take advantage of his newness and good nature and brought Paul to trial before him on a charge of teaching contrary to their law. But Gallio, with impartial Roman justice, refused to have anything to do with the case or to take any action. So Paul completed his work in Corinth and moved on to Syria.

The Correspondence With Corinth

It was when he was in Ephesus in the year A.D. 55 that Paul, learning that things were not all well in Corinth, wrote to the church there. There is every possibility that the Corinthian correspondence as we have it is out of order. We must remember that it was not until A.D. 90 or thereby that Paulcorrespondence was collected. In many churches it must have existed only on scraps of papyrus and the putting it together would be a problem: and it seems that, when the Corinthian letters were collected, they were not all discovered and were not arranged in the right order. Let us see if we can reconstruct what happened.

(i) There was a letter which preceded 1 Corinthians. In 1Co_5:9 Paul writes, "I wrote you a letter not to associate with immoral men." This obviously refers to some previous letter. Some scholars believe that letter is lost without trace. Others think it is contained in 2Co_6:14-18 and 2Co_7:1 . Certainly that passage suits what Paul said he wrote about. It occurs rather awkwardly in its context, and, if we take it out and read straight on from 2Co_6:13 to 2Co_7:2 , we get excellent sense and connection. Scholars call this letter The Previous Letter. (In the original letters there were no chapter or verse divisions. The chapters were not divided up until the thirteenth century and the verses not till the sixteenth, and because of that the arranging of the collection of letters would be much more difficult).

(ii) News came to Paul from various sources of trouble at Corinth. (a) News came from those who were of the household of Chloe (1Co_1:11 ). They brought news of the contentions with which the church was torn. (b) News came with the visit of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus to Ephesus. (1Co_16:17 ). By personal contact they were able to fill up the gaps in Paulinformation. (c) News came in a letter in which the Corinthian Church had asked Paul guidance on various problems. In 1Co_7:1 Paul begins, "Concerning the matters about which you wrote..." In answer to all this information Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and despatched it to Corinth apparently by the hand of Timothy (1Co_4:17 ).

(iii) The result of the letter was that things became worse than ever, and, although we have no direct record of it, we can deduce that Paul paid a personal visit to Corinth. In 2Co_12:14 he writes, "The third time I am ready to come to you." In 2Co_13:1-2 , he says again that he is coming to them for the third time. Now, if there was a third time, there must have been a second time. We have the record of only one visit, whose story is told in Act_18:1-17 . We have no record at all of the second, but Corinth was only two or three daysailing from Ephesus.

(iv) The visit did no good at all. Matters were only exacerbated and the result was an exceedingly severe letter. We learn about that letter from certain passages in 2 Corinthians. In 2Co_2:4 Paul writes, "I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears." In 2Co_7:8 he writes, "For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it though I did regret it; for I see that that letter has grieved you, though only for a while." It was a letter which was the product of anguish of mind, a letter so severe that Paul was almost sorry that he ever sent it.

Scholars call this The Severe Letter. Have we got it? It obviously cannot be I Corinthians, because it is not a tear-stained and anguished letter. When Paul wrote it, it is clear enough that things were under control. Now if we read through 2 Corinthians we find an odd circumstance. In 2Cor 1-9 everything is made up, there is complete reconciliation and all are friends again; but at 2Cor 10 comes the strangest break. 2Cor 10-13 are the most heartbroken cry Paul ever wrote. They show that he has been hurt and insulted as he never was before or afterwards by any church. His appearance, his speech, his apostleship, his honesty have all been under attack.

Most scholars believe that 2Cor 10-13 are the severe letter, and that they have become misplaced when Paulletters were put together. If we want the real chronological course of Paulcorrespondence with Corinth, we really ought to read 2Cor 10-13 before 2Cor 1-9. We do know that this letter was sent off with Titus. (2Co_2:13 ; 2Co_7:13 ).

(v) Paul was worried about this letter. He could not wait until Titus came back with an answer, so he set out to meet him (2Co_2:13 ; 2Co_7:5 , 2Co_7:13 ). Somewhere in Macedonia he met him and learned that all was well, and, probably at Philippi, he sat down and wrote 2Cor 1-9, the letter of reconciliation.

Stalker has said that the letters of Paul take the roof off the early churches and let us see what went on inside. Of none of them is that truer than the letters to Corinth. Here we see what "the care of all the churches" must have meant to Paul. Here we see the heart-breaks and the joys. Here we see Paul, the shepherd of his flock, bearing the sorrows and the problems of his people on his heart.

The Corinthian Correspondence

Before we read the letters in detail let us set down the progress of the Corinthian correspondence in tabular form.

(i) The Previous Letter, which may be contained in 2Co_6:14-18 and 2Co_7:1 .

(ii) The arrival of Chloepeople, of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus, and of the letter to Paul from the Corinthian Church.

(iii) 1 Corinthians is written in reply and is despatched with Timothy.

(iv) The situation grows worse and Paul pays a personal visit to Corinth, which is so complete a failure that it almost breaks his heart.

(v) The consequence is The Severe Letter, which is almost certainly contained in 2Cor 10-13, and which was despatched with Titus.

(vi) Unable to wait for an answer, Paul sets out to meet Titus. He meets him in Macedonia, learns that all is well and, probably from Philippi, writes 2Cor 1-9, The Letter of Reconciliation.

The first four chapters of 1 Corinthians deal with the divided state of the Church of God at Corinth. Instead of being a unity in Christ it was split into sects and parties, who had attached themselves to the names of various leaders and teachers. It is Paulteaching that these divisions had emerged because the Corinthians thought too much about human wisdom and knowledge and too little about the sheer grace of God. In fact, for all their so-called wisdom, they are really in a state of immaturity. They think that they are wise men, but really they are no better than babies.

FURTHER READING

1 Corinthians

F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Corinthians (NCB; E)

J. Hering, The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (translated by A. W. Heathcote and P. J. Allcock)

J. Moffatt, 1 Corinthians (MC; E)

A. Robertson and A. Plummer, 1 Corinthians (ICC; G)

Abbreviations

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

NCB: New Century Bible

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: 1 Corinthians 14 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

The False And The True Worship (1Co_14:1-19)

The Effects Of False And True Worship (1Co_14:20-25)

Practical Advice (1Co_14:26-33)

Forbidden Innovations (1Co_14:34-40)

Constable: 1 Corinthians (Pendahuluan Kitab)

Introduction

Historical Background

Corinth had a long history stretching back into the Bronze Age (before 1200 B.C.).¹ In Paul's day it was a Roman colony and the capital of the province of Achaia. The population consisted of Roman citizens who had migrated from Italy, native Greeks, Jews (Acts 18:4), and other people from various places who chose to settle there.

The ancient city of Corinth enjoyed an ideal situation as a commercial center. It stood just southwest of the Isthmus of Corinth, the land bridge that connected Northern Greece and Southern Greece, the Peloponnesus. This site made Corinth a crossroads for trade by land, north and south, as well as by sea, east and west. In Paul's day large ships would transfer their cargoes to land vehicles that would cart them from the Corinthian Gulf to the Saronic Gulf, or vice versa. There stevedores would reload them onto other ships. If a ship was small enough, they would drag the whole vessel across the four and a half mile isthmus from one gulf to the other. This did away with the long voyage around the Peloponnesus. Later the Greeks cut a canal linking these two gulfs.²

Corinth's strategic location brought commerce and all that goes with it to its populace: wealth, a steady stream of travelers and merchants, and vice. In Paul's day many of the pagan religions included prostitution as part of the worship of their god or goddess. Consequently fornication flourished in Corinth.

"Old Corinth had gained such a reputation for sexual vice that Aristophanes (ca. 450-385 B.C.) coined the verb korinthiazo (= to act like a Corinthian, i.e., to commit fornication)."³

"The old city had been the most licentious city in Greece, and perhaps the most licentious city in the Empire."⁴

The most notorious shrine was the temple of Aphrodite that stood on top of an approximately 1,900 foot high mountain just south of the city, the Acrocorinthus. Hundreds of female slaves served the men who "worshipped" there.⁵ Other major deities honored in Corinth included Melicertes, the patron of seafarers, and Poseidon, the sea god.

"All of this evidence together suggests that Paul's Corinth was at once the New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas of the ancient world."⁶

There were several other local sites of importance to the student of 1 Corinthians. These included the bema (judgment seat or platform), the place where judges tried important cases including Paul's (Acts 18:12).⁷ Cenchrea, the port of Corinth on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, was the town from which Paul set sail for Ephesus during his second missionary journey (Acts 18:18). Isthmia was another little town east of Corinth, just north of Cenchrea, that hosted the Isthmian Games every two or three years. These athletic contests were important in the life of the Greeks, and Paul referred to them in this epistle (9:24-27).

Paul had arrived in Corinth first from Athens, which lay to the east. There he preached the gospel and planted a church. There, too, he met Priscilla and Aquila, Jews who had recently left Rome. After local Jewish officials expelled the church from the synagogue, it met in a large house next door that Titius Justus owned. Paul ministered in Corinth for 18 months, probably in 51 and 52 A.D. He left taking Priscilla and Aquila with him to Ephesus. Paul then proceeded on to Syrian Antioch by way of Caesarea.

Returning to Ephesus on his third journey Paul made that city his base of operations for almost three years (53-56 A.D.). There he heard disquieting news about immorality in the Corinthian church. Therefore he wrote a letter urging the believers not to tolerate such conduct in their midst. Paul referred to this letter as his "former letter" (1 Cor. 5:9). It is not extant today.

Then he heard from "Chloe's people" that factions had developed in the church. He also received a letter from the church in Corinth requesting his guidance in certain matters. These matters were marriage, divorce, food offered to idols, the exercise of spiritual gifts in the church, and the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem. Those who carried this letter also reported other disturbing conditions in the church. These conditions were the condoning rather than disciplining of immorality, Christians suing one another in the pagan courts, and disorders in their church meetings. These factors led Paul to compose another letter, "1 Corinthians." In it he dealt with the problem of factions, promised to visit them soon, and said he was sending Timothy to Corinth (chs. 1-4). Paul added his responses to the Corinthians' questions to what he had already written. He dealt next with the oral reports (chs. 5-6) and then with the questions that the Corinthian believers had written to him (chs. 7-16). He evidently sent this epistle from Ephesus by trusted messengers in the late winter or early spring of 56 A.D. (cf. 16:8).

It seems that a conflict had developed between the Corinthian church and its founder. There was internal strife in the church, as the epistle makes clear. However the larger problem seems to have been that some in the community were leading the church into a view of things that was contrary to that of Paul. This resulted in a questioning of Paul's authority and his gospel. The key issue between Paul and the Corinthians was what it means to be "spiritual."⁸

"It [1 Corinthians] is not the fullest and clearest statement of Paul's Gospel; for this we must turn to Romans. Nor is it the letter that shows Paul's own heart most clearly, for in this respect it is surpassed by 2 Corinthians, and perhaps by other epistles too. But it has the great value of showing theology at work, theology being used as it was intended to be used, in the criticism and establishing of persons, institutions, practices, and ideas."⁹

Paul's Corinthian Contacts
Paul's founding visit	His "former letter"	The Corin-thians' letter to him	First Corin-thians	Paul's "painful visit"	His "severe letter"	Second Corin-thians	Paul's antici-pated visit

Message¹⁰

A phrase in 1:2 suggests the theme of this great epistle. That phrase is "the church of God which is at Corinth." Two entities are in view in this phrase and these are the two entities with which the whole epistle deals. They are the church of God and the city of Corinth. The church of God is a community of people who share the life of God, are under the governing will of God, and cooperate in the work of God. The city of Corinth was ignorant of the life of God, governed by self-will, and antagonistic to the purposes of God. These two entities stand in vivid contrast to one another and account for the conflict we find in this epistle.

The church of God in view in this epistle is not the universal church but the local church. These two churches are really not that different from one another. The local church is the micro form of the universal church. Moreover the universal church is the macro form of the local church. What is true of one is true of the other. Whatever we find in a local church exists on a larger scale in the universal church. Whatever we find in one local church exists in many local churches. Remember that the New Testament consistently speaks of the church as people, not buildings. The Apostle Paul addressed these people as believers because that is what they were. Today there may be quite a few unsaved people in a local church's membership. This was not the case in the first century. Believers composed local churches. They shared the life of God because the Holy Spirit indwelt them. They had submitted to God's rule over them to some extent. They were people whom God had commissioned to carry the gospel to every creature. We need to bear these things in mind as we read about the church of God in Corinth.

The city of Corinth is the other entity of primary importance in our grasping the major significance of this epistle. What characterizes the world generally marked Corinth. In the first century when other people described a person as a Corinthian they were implying that lust, lasciviousness, and luxury characterized that one. These were the marks of Corinth. Corinth as a city was ignorant of the true God, entirely self-governing as a Roman colony, and self-centered in her world. These traits marked the lives of individual unbelievers in Corinth as well. The city was going in the opposite direction from the direction God had called the church to go.

The atmosphere of this epistle is Paul's concept of the responsibilities of the church in the city. The apostle articulated this underlying emphasis in 1:9. Fellowship involves both privilege and responsibility. On the one hand, all God's resources are at our disposal. On the other hand, all our resources should be at His disposal as well. The church in any place has a debt to the people who live there to proclaim the gospel to them (Rom. 1:14-16). Paul wrote this whole letter out of an underlying sense of the church's responsibility for the city where it existed.

The church in Corinth was struggling to discharge its debt. It was failing in some very important areas: in readiness, in courage, and in conviction to declare the gospel. The Corinthian church was a carnal church. However, its carnality, as big a problem as that was, was only part of a larger problem. The bigger problem was its failure to carry out its God-given purpose in the city, namely to proclaim a powerful spiritual message to the city. The Christians could not fulfill their purpose unless they dealt with their carnality. Why is carnality wrong? It is wrong because it keeps us from fulfilling the purpose for which God has left us on this planet.

In this letter we discover the causes of the church's failure. Another major emphasis is the secrets of the church's success. On the one hand, we find correctives of carnality. On the other, we have construction of spirituality. Let's consider the causes of failure first.

The first cause of failure was the fact that the spirit of the city had invaded the church as a virus. Every evil thing in the church to which Paul referred was prevalent in Corinth. Three things merit particular mention.

One of the symptoms of Corinthian cultural influence was intellectual freedom. There was much interest in intellectual speculation in Corinth as there was in its neighbor city of Athens. The phrase "Corinthian words" was a synonym for rhetoric in Paul's day. Corinth glorified human wisdom. The Corinthians discussed and debated all sorts of opinions. Each intellectual leader had his group of disciples. Discussion of every subject under the sun prevailed with great diversity of opinion. Unfortunately this spirit had invaded the church. There was a veneration of human wisdom among the Christians. They had chosen their own Christian leaders whom they followed as disciples (ch. 1). Intellectual restlessness prevailed in the church as well as in the city. The believers sampled Christian teaching as the general populace dabbled in philosophical argumentation. This extended to such fundamental doctrines as the Resurrection (ch. 15).

Another evidence that the city had invaded the church was the moral laxity that prevailed. Intellectual permissiveness led to the lowering of moral standards. When people view any idea as legitimate, there are few moral absolutes. The worship of Aphrodite on the hill behind the city was extremely immoral, but the unsaved citizens viewed this worship as perfectly acceptable. "Live and let live" was their motto. Regrettably some Corinthians in the church were viewing morals in the same way (ch. 5).

A third mark of the city's effect on the church was personal selfishness. In the city every person did what was right in his own eyes. The result was there was very little concern for other people and their welfare. One of the evidences of this attitude in the church was the Christians' behavior in their meetings. They were not sharing their food with one another (ch. 11). They were also interrupting speakers in the meetings rather than waiting for the speaker to finish what he had to say (ch. 14). Where edification and order should have prevailed, self-glorification and chaos reigned.

These were only symptoms of a deeper problem. The real root issue was that the church had failed to recognize its uniqueness. The Christians had not grasped and retained some central truths the apostles had taught them that identified the essence of their Christianity. Paul reminded them of these things in this epistle.

They had forgotten the central importance of the message of the Cross of Christ. This was a message not subject to debate. It rested on eyewitness testimony and divine revelation, not human speculation. Christians should unite around this message, share a common commitment to it, and make it the subject of their proclamation. We should appreciate the unity of the body of Christ while at the same time glorying in the diversity of its leaders.

The Corinthians had also forgotten the central importance of the power of the resurrection of Christ. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in Christians to enable us to live morally pure lives. Immorality is not an option for the believer. One of the most outstanding marks of a Christian should be purity. Because Jesus Christ was pure, we should be pure. Because He was pure, we can be pure.

The Corinthians had also forgotten the importance of Christ's command that we love one another. Selfishness had invaded the church. The believers needed to put the welfare of others, their fellow believers and their unsaved neighbors, before their own personal inclinations and preferences.

One of the central revelations of this epistle then is that the church fails to fulfill her function in the city (i.e., culture) when the spirit of the city invades her. The church allows the spirit of the city to invade her when she forgets that God wants her to be unique. The church fails when it adopts the ideas and activities of its environment rather than those revealed for it in God's Word. In view of this, Paul constantly appealed to his readers to be what they were in reality. We are not the people we were. We are saints (1:2). We need to remember that and act accordingly. We do not need to catch the spirit of our age. We need to correct the spirit of our age. When the church catches the spirit of its age, it catches a disease and becomes anemic, weak, and sickly. We avoid catching this spirit by staying spiritually healthy and by constantly imbibing the message of the Cross. We do it by exercising the power of the Resurrection and by keeping others rather than self primary.

I have already begun to hint at the secrets of the church's success, the second major revelation in this epistle.

The church must realize what it is to fulfill its function in the city. We must appreciate our life in Christ.

The life of the church is the life of an organism (ch. 12). It has one Lord whose life we share. It has one Spirit who governs it distributing abilities, assigning positions, and determining results as He sees fit in view of God's overall purpose. The church has one God--not many as in Corinth--whose glory it should determine to promote. To the extent a church realizes these truths, it will be ready to be successful in the sight of God. If it shares the spiritual life of her Lord, submits to the Spirit's leading, and seeks to glorify God, it will succeed. By separating from the spirit of the city, it can help and lift the city.

The law of the church must be the law of love. This is the opposite of the selfish outlook. Paul emphasized the importance of love in chapter 13.

The power of the church is the Resurrection life of Christ (ch. 15). We presently live between two resurrections, the resurrection of Christ and our own resurrection. These resurrections are facts of history. One has already taken place, and the other is yet to come. Between these resurrections the church must fulfill its function in the world. The life that God has given to every believer is life that has power over death. One who overcame death has given it to us. This life is essentially different from what unbelievers possess. It is eternal divine life. With such life we can face any enemy as we serve God. Even the final enemy, death, cannot hold us. It could not hold Him who gave us His life.

Not only must we appreciate the uniqueness of our life as a church to fulfill our function, but we must also fulfill our function by invading the city. Rather than allowing it to invade us, we must invade it to be successful.

We do this by proclaiming that Jesus is Lord. He is the only Lord. The proof of this is His resurrection.

We also do this by rebuking the immorality of the city, not just by decrying it but, what is more important, by overcoming it in our own lives. We do it by demonstrating the power of Christ's life within us by living morally pure lives.

Third, we do this by counteracting the selfishness of our culture by practicing genuine Christian love. This means living for the glory of God and the good of others rather than putting self first.

The church always fails when it becomes conformed to the maxims, methods, and manners of the city--the world in which it lives. It always succeeds when it stands separate from the city and touches it with its supernatural healing life.

This epistle calls the church in every age to recognize its responsibility to its city. The church is responsible for the intellectual, moral, and social conditions in its city. Unfortunately many churches believe they exist merely to conserve the life of their members. We live in a cultural climate very similar to the one in which the Corinthian Christians lived. It is a culture characterized by intellectual pluralism, situation ethics, and personal selfishness. We face the same challenge the Corinthian believers did. Consequently what this epistle reveals is extremely relevant for us. We have responsibility for how people in our city think, how they behave, and whom they glorify. What they need is the message of the Cross delivered in the power of the Resurrection.

This letter is also a call to separation.

First, we must separate from absolute intellectual freedom and willingly submit our understanding and thinking to the revelation that God has given us in Scripture (chs. 1-4). There is a growing notion that all religions lead to God. Increasingly we hear that it does not matter too much what someone believes because we will all end up in the same place eventually. We need to counter that view with the revelation of the exclusive way of salvation that God has provided for people who are hopelessly lost and dead in their sins.

God has also called us to separation from moral laxity. Our culture is playing down personal morality and marital morality today. We need to proclaim the standards of God in these areas even though we may face strong opposition for doing so. Paul held these standards up in chapters 5-7.

Likewise we need to separate from selfish living. We need to make a break with goals and plans designed to glorify ourselves. Instead we need to evaluate all of our activities by the standard of chapter 13.

By way of application we can conclude several things from these observations about the emphases in this epistle.

First, the influence of the church is the influence of its individual members. The sum of its individual members' influence is the church's influence. Everything that is true of the church, therefore, is true of the individual believer in it to some extent.

Second, there should be perpetual conflict between the church and the city. If there is no conflict, the church is not having its proper influence. It may be that the city has invaded the church.

Third, the message of the church must ever be the message of the Cross and the Resurrection. It is a message of failure and success, of success out of failure. That is the message of hope the city needs to hear. Consequently we need to "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord," because we know that our labor is not in vain in the Lord (15:58).

Constable: 1 Corinthians (Garis Besar)

Outline

I. Introduction 1:1-9

A. Salutation 1:1-3

B. Thanksgiving 1:4-9

II. Conditions reported to Paul 1:10-6:20

A. Divisions in the church 1:10-4:21

1. The manifestation of the problem 1:10-17

2. The gospel as a contradiction to human wisdom 1:18-2:5

3. The Spirit's ministry of revealing God's wisdom 2:6-16

4. The spiritual yet carnal condition 3:1-4

5. The role of God's servants 3:5-17

6. Human wisdom and limited blessing 3:18-23

7. The Corinthians' relationship with Paul 4:1-21

B. Lack of discipline in the church chs. 5-6

1. Incest in the church ch. 5

2. Litigation in the church 6:1-11

3. Prostitution in the church 6:12-20

III. Questions asked of Paul 7:1-16:12

A. Marriage and related matters ch. 7

1. Advice to the married or formerly married 7:1-16

2. Basic principles 7:17-24

3. Advice concerning virgins 7:25-40

B. Food offered to idols 8:1-11:1

1. The priority of love over knowledge in Christian conduct ch. 8

2. Paul's apostolic defense ch. 9

3. The sinfulness of idolatry 10:1-22

4. The issue of marketplace food 10:23-11:1

C. Propriety in worship 11:2-16

1. The argument from culture 11:2-6

2. The argument from creation 11:7-12

3. The argument from propriety 11:13-16

D. The Lord's Supper 11:17-34

1. The abuses 11:17-26

2. The correctives 11:27-34

E. Spiritual gifts and spiritual people chs. 12-14

1. The test of Spirit control 12:1-3

2. The need for varieties of spiritual gifts 12:4-31

3. The supremacy of love ch. 13

4. The need for intelligibility 14:1-25

5. The need for order 14:26-40

F. The resurrection of believers ch. 15

l. The resurrection of Jesus Christ 15:1-11

2. The certainty of resurrection 15:12-34

3. The resurrection body 15:35-49

4. The assurance of victory over death 15:50-58

G. The collection for the Jerusalem believers 16:1-12

1. Arrangements for the collection 16:1-4

2. The travel plans of Paul and his fellow apostles 16:5-12

IV. Conclusion 16:13-24

A. Final exhortations 16:13-18

B. Final greetings and benediction 16:19-24

Constable: 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 1 Corinthians (Pendahuluan Kitab)

THE FIRST

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO THE CORINTHIANS.

INTRODUCTION.

Corinth was the capital of Achaia, a very rich and populous city, where St. Paul had preached a year and a half, and converted a great many. See Acts xviii. 10. Now having received a letter from them, (chap. vii. 1.) and being informed of divers disputes and divisions among them, (chap. i. ver. 11.) he wrote this letter to them, and sent it by the same persons, Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, who had brought him their letter, chap. xvi. 17. It was written about the year 56, not from Philippi, as it is commonly marked at the end of the Greek copies, but rather from Ephesus. The subject and main design of this Epistle was to take away the divisions among them about the talents and merits of those who had baptized and preached to them, and to settle divers matters of ecclesiastical discipline. The apostle justifieth his mission, and his manner of preaching, chap. i, ii, iii, and iv. He teacheth them what was to be done with the man guilty of a scandalous sin of incest, chap. v. He speaks of sins against chastity; of matrimony; and of the state of continency, chap. vi and vii. Of meats offered to idols, chap. viii. Of his manner of conversing with them, and what their conversation ought to be, chap. ix and x. Of the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, chap. xi. Of the different gifts of the Holy Ghost, and how to employ them, chap. xii, xiii, and xiv. Of the faith of the resurrection, chap. xv. Of charitable contributions, and of his design of coming again to them, chap. xvi. (Witham) --- St. Paul having planted the faith in Corinth, where he had preached a year and a half, and converted a great many, went to Ephesus. After being there three years, he wrote this first Epistle to the Corinthians, and sent it by the same persons, Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, who had brought their letter to him. It was written about twenty-four years after our Lord's ascension, and contains several matters appertaining to faith and morals, and also to ecclesiastical discipline. (Challoner)

====================

Gill: 1 Corinthians (Pendahuluan Kitab)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CORINTHIANS

This was not the first epistle that was written by the apostle to the Corinthians, for we read in this of his having written an epistle to them before, 1Co 5:9, but this is the first epistle of his unto them, that is now extant; and has been received by the churches, as of divine authority, being written by the inspiration of God, of which there has been no doubt in any age. The apostle himself was nearly two years at Corinth; where he preached with great success; and was the instrument of converting many persons, who by him were formed into a church state, consisting both of Jews and Gentiles, as is clear from many passages in this epistle, and whom be left in good order, and in great peace and harmony; but quickly after his departure, false teachers got in among them, and bad principles were imbibed by many of them, and evil practices prevailed among them, and they fell into factions and parties, which occasioned the apostle to write this epistle to them, as well as their writing to him concerning certain things, they desired to have his judgment and opinion of, 1Co 7:1, It is thought to be written about the year of Christ 55, and in the first year of Nero, though some place it in the year 59. It was written not from Philippi, as the subscription added to it affirms, but from Ephesus, as appears from 1Co 16:8, and, it may be, after the uproar raised there by Demetrius, as should seem from a passage in 1Co 15:32. The matter of it is various. The apostle first rebukes them for their schisms and divisions; suggests that their regard to the wisdom of men, and the philosophy of the Gentiles, had brought the simplicity of the Gospel into contempt with them; blames them for their conduct in the case of the incestuous person, and urges them to put him away from them; reproves them for going to law with one another before Heathen magistrates, and warmly inveighs against fornication; and then answers several questions, and resolves several cases concerning marriage; treats of things offered to idols, and of the maintenance of ministers; and dissuades from idolatry, and all appearance of it; takes notice of the unbecoming conduct of the members of the church at the Lord's supper; and discourses concerning the nature and use of spiritual gifts, and commends charity above them; observes and corrects some irregularities in the use of their gifts; proves by various arguments the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which some of them denied; exhorts to a collection for the poor saints, and to several other things, and concludes the epistle with the salutations of others, and of himself.

Gill: 1 Corinthians 14 (Pendahuluan Pasal)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CORINTHIANS 14

In this chapter the apostle discourses concerning the use of spiritual gifts, and prefers prophesying, or preaching, to every other gift; and directs to the order and manner of using it, and also points at the persons who should exercise it; and whereas there was much confusion and disorder in this church, in the management of the affairs of it, the chapter is concluded with a general exhortation to do everything in a decent and orderly manner. The apostle begins with an exhortation to follow after charity, which he had commended in the preceding chapter, and had preferred to gifts, and yet he would not have gifts slighted, but represents them as desirable; particularly prophesying or preaching, which he prefers above all, 1Co 14:1 and especially above the gift of tongues, and for which he gives his reasons; he that speaks with tongues, speaks to God and not to men; at least not to their understanding, though he may by his gift deliver the most excellent truths, 1Co 14:2 whereas he that preaches speaks to men, to their edification, exhortation, and comfort, 1Co 14:3 the one edifies himself, and the other the church, 1Co 14:4 wherefore since he had a sincere affection for this church, though he could wish they all had the gift of speaking with tongues, yet he rather desired they might have the gift of preaching, because that was most for edification, 1Co 14:5 and exemplifies this in himself, that should he come to them speaking with divers tongues, this would be of no use to them, unless he came revealing, making known, and preaching the doctrines of the Gospel to them, 1Co 14:6 and illustrates this by a simile taken from musical instruments, in which unless there is a distinction of sounds, the music will not be understood, and there can be nothing grateful and pleasant: and such is speaking with divers tongues, without an interpretation, 1Co 14:7 and particularly by a simile taken from the trumpet, as used in war; which if it gives a sound that is unknown, it will be no direction to prepare for the battle, 1Co 14:8 which similes are accommodated to the case in hand; showing that words easy to be understood by the hearer should be made use of by the speaker, or speaking is in vain, 1Co 14:9 each word in every language indeed has its signification, some idea or another annexed to it; but if this is not understood by the hearer as well as the speaker, they become barbarians to one another, 1Co 14:10 wherefore such as were eagerly desirous of spiritual gifts, should covet those that were most for edification; and if speaking with tongues were what they were most set upon, they should pray for the gift of interpretation also, 1Co 14:12 because, for instance, if prayer is made in an unknown tongue, the extraordinary gift indeed may be exercised, but not to the understanding, and so not to the profit of others, 1Co 14:14 hence the apostle determines for himself, that though he should make use of his spiritual gifts, both in praying and singing, it should be in such a manner as to be understood by others, as well as himself, 1Co 14:15 and it was right for everyone to do so likewise, otherwise persons not knowing what is prayed for, or thanks given for, would be so far from being able to join in the exercise, that they could not so much as say Amen at the conclusion of it, 1Co 14:16 and though thanks might be returned for a mercy received in ever so agreeable a manner, yet it could be no ways edifying to a man that did not understand the language in which it was expressed, 1Co 14:17 not that the apostle said all this, because he had not such a gift himself, for he had it to a greater degree than any in this church had arrived to, 1Co 14:18 yet after all it was more eligible to him to speak live words in a public manner, so as to be understood, than ten thousand in a language the people were ignorant of, 1Co 14:19 wherefore he exhorts the Corinthians not to act the childish part, to covet speaking with tongues, but rather the more manly one, to prophesy, or preach, to the understanding of others, 1Co 14:20 moreover, the apostle deters them from seeking to speak with divers tongues, by citing a passage out of Isa 28:11 by which it appears, that speaking with divers tongues and strange languages was sometimes threatened as a punishment, and not given as a blessing, 1Co 14:21 besides, speaking with tongues was a sign of unbelief, and used for the conviction of unbelievers; whereas prophesying, or preaching, was a sign of faith, and was for the profit of believers, and therefore the most desirable, 1Co 14:22 to which he adds another reason, dissuading from the use of speaking with divers tongues in public, where they are not understood, taken from the opinion that ignorant and unbelieving persons coming into their assemblies would entertain of them, as though they were madmen, 1Co 14:23 whereas should they preach in a language understood, on the contrary it might be of use for the conviction of such persons, who having the secrets of their hearts laid open to them, will fall down and worship God, whose word they hear; and when they depart, report that the divine presence is with such a people, 1Co 14:24 hence the apostle proceeds to direct to the proper and orderly manner of using gifts; that whereas there were different ones among them, one had one gift, and another had another, they might all be used, provided they were used in such a manner as to tend to edification, 1Co 14:26 so for instance, if speaking in an unknown tongue was used, it should be only by two or three at most, one after another; and there should be an interpreter to make known the meaning of what was said to the people, 1Co 14:27 but if there were none that had the gift of interpreting, then it was most advisable for the speaker to be silent in public, and only in private speak to God and himself, 1Co 14:28 and then as for those that had the gift of prophesying, or preaching, these should exercise their gift two or three at a time, one after another, and the rest should sit and judge what they delivered, whether agreeable to the word of God or not, 1Co 14:29 and should anything be more clearly revealed to one that sat and heard, the speaker should be silent, and give way to him, that he might have the opportunity of declaring it to the edification of the church, 1Co 14:30 for all that had the gift of preaching might use it one after another, by turns, for general instruction and comfort, 1Co 14:31 seeing spiritual gifts are subject to and at the dispose of those that are possessed of them: or the doctrines preached by the one are subject to the examination and judgment of the other, 1Co 14:32 for God, the donor of all gifts, is the author of order and peace, and not of confusion in all the churches, 1Co 14:33 and whereas the apostle had suggested, that all might prophecy, or preach, that is, that had gifts qualifying for it, he would be understood only of men, and not women, who were not permitted to speak in the church in a way of preaching; no, not even to ask questions there about what they heard, but if they wanted to be informed of any thing they did not rightly understand, they were to ask their husbands at home; this the apostle argues, partly from the law, which commands them to be in obedience to men, and partly from the indecency of such a practice, 1Co 14:34 and seeing as it should seem such a practice did obtain in the church at Corinth, the apostle warmly reproves them for it, it being what was not to be observed in other churches, by intimating to them, that the Gospel neither came out from them, nor did it come to them only, 1Co 14:36 and whoever had a gift of preaching, or a spiritual understanding of things, must allow, that what the apostle said were not the commandments of men, but of God, 1Co 14:37 but as for ignorant persons, who were affectedly and wilfully such, they must so remain, there was no help for it, 1Co 14:38 upon which the apostle repeats his exhortation he set out with, to desire in the first place the gift of prophesying, or preaching, though he would not have speaking with tongues forbidden, provided the above rules were attended to, 1Co 14:39 and concludes with a general exhortation to do all the above things, and everything relating to the doctrine and discipline of the church, in a becoming and orderly manner, 1Co 14:40.

College: 1 Corinthians (Pendahuluan Kitab)

FOREWORD

Since the past few decades have seen an explosion in the number of books, articles, and commentaries on First Corinthians, a brief word to the readers might help them know what to expect or not to expect from this commentary. This commentary is intended for use by studious lay people, Bible teachers, and seminary students. Most scholars and specialists in the area of New Testament will probably find this commentary's treatment of 1 Corinthians and its problems too elementary. Because of the intended audience for this work and the constraints of length, the user should be aware of certain acknowledged limitations. There are at least four of these:

1. This commentary does not pretend to look at every problem, real or imaginary, which has caught the eye of previous scholarship.

2. The commentary does not attempt to cite continuously the interpretations of leading Christian thinkers as they have written on this Pauline letter.

3. Interpretations are given on individual passages without always citing the full evidence and without working through the attendant arguments, either for or against particular views.

4. Only a moderate number of footnotes have been used. In addition, the vast majority of the secondary literature cited will be English language and will, when possible, be in book form. The nonspecialist for whom this commentary is intended has little interest in or access to technical materials, journal literature, or foreign language materials.

Those who wish to study this letter of Paul in more detail should look to some of the more technical commentaries (e.g., Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians ).

I owe a special word of thanks to two individuals. My friend Gail Brady graciously typed the entire manuscript of this commentary for me. My friend and colleague Prof. Allen Black read the entire manuscript for me and saved me and my readers from more than one instance of an inappropriate choice of words as well as an occasional overstatement.

I dedicate this volume to my parents who shared with me over the years their own faith, hope, and love.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

INTRODUCTION

METHODOLOGY

The text of Scripture known as 1 Corinthians has provided a well from which believers have drunk for almost two millennia. This portion of Scripture has served the church as a resource for theology, for homiletical exposition, for pastoral issues, and more recently as a source for reconstructing social dimensions and dynamics of early Pauline Christianity. Whatever else one wants to say about 1 Corinthians, it cannot be doubted that it has had a significant impact on the Christian church.

Notwithstanding the necessity and value of this diversity of perspectives and interpretive methodologies which have come across the stage of Christian history, this present work is more narrowly focused in its approach. This work is primarily a historical-exegetical commentary, the goal of which is to understand and set forth the ideas, doctrines, and feelings Paul communicated in the letter of 1 Corinthians. The phrase "ideas, doctrines, and feelings" is not intended to describe an "intellectual history" of the great Apostle. Rather, Paul's ideas, doctrines, and feelings, as recorded in 1 Corinthians, are engendered and evoked by a series of practices and beliefs, diverse in themselves, coming from individuals and groups in the church of God at Corinth.

A decision to write a historical-exegetical commentary brings with it several assumptions and commitments.

1. This means in the first instance that the feelings, doctrines, and ideas of Paul must, as far as possible, be understood in the historical framework, both in which he wrote them and in which the first readers lived. A historical-exegetical approach has little in common with simplistic attempts to modernize Paul, to re-create him after the image of western Christianity. To be sure, every practicing believer knows firsthand the need to bring forward, with God's help and wisdom, the meaning of the ancient text into the modern world. How strange it appears, however, when those who wish to contextualize the Gospel in the modern setting have not invested the time and effort to first learn what it meant in its original context. Just as a good translation of Russian literature into French requires that one be familiar with both languages, so a good translation of the ideas of Paul's letter to the Corinthians into modern idiom requires a competent grasp of the original meaning of this letter as well as the modern world.

2. A commitment to a historical-exegetical methodology means that one must always recognize that Paul's letter to the Corinthians is an occasional document, arising in the first instance as direct responses to ad hoc issues and problems in the lives of believers living in a certain region of the Roman Empire, at a specific time, and under particular historical and cultural circumstances. Since the historical method infers that Paul's commands, arguments, and instructions were given in direct response to the issues raised by the lives and ideas of the Corinthians, one must openly acknowledge that 1 Corinthians may not address every issue that we, living two millennia later, hope it would. In fact, 1 Corinthians was not even adequate or appropriate for addressing the problem in all the Pauline churches. I am certain, for example, that the churches of Galatia would have been perplexed to receive 1 Corinthians as a solution to their specific problems. Indeed, even at Corinth it had to be supplemented by 2 Corinthians.

Not only does the historical method help restrain us from foisting our own agendas and ecclesiastical problems upon that small group of believers who lived at a particular time in Roman Achaia almost 2000 years ago, it also serves as a restraint for those who would twist the Scriptures and put forth their own ideology masquerading as exegesis. Time and again commentators have found a theology or doctrinal imprimatur in the text of 1 Corinthians which, even if generally true, has little in common with Paul's own intention and goals for this letter. Throughout the centuries preachers and theologians have strolled through the cafeteria of 1 Corinthians, appetite whetted, looking for some word, idea, or verse to place upon the plate from which they feed the church. At some point this kind of pragmatism in handling Scripture, which is driven by a variety of appetites, must be labeled as malpractice, and the student of Scripture needs to obey again the pastoral admonition to become "a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15).

Even though a historical-exegetical method is the underpinning of this commentary, it is in no way the final task for the church in the interpretation of 1 Corinthians. Rather, the historical-exegetical approach should be the first step, and a necessary one, which is followed by many other steps taken by believers who, through the course of their journey, translate the manifold and variegated message of 1 Corinthians for the contemporary and global church of Jesus Christ. The individual tools and methods used in this process of contextualization would hopefully come from the guidance of God as well as study in the traditional theological disciplines of homiletics, systematic theology, pastoral theology, ethnotheology, and the like.

THE LETTER OF 1 CORINTHIANS

DESTINATION

The letter of 1 Corinthians was sent by Paul and Sosthenes to the congregation of believers in the city of Corinth. This is in contrast to 2 Corinthians, which was written not only to believers in Corinth but also to believers in the province of Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital (2 Cor 1:1). The content of 1 Cor 5:9 "I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people" makes it evident that the letter of 1 Corinthians is not Paul's first written communication with the church at Corinth since he here refers to a previous letter he had already sent them and which they apparently misunderstood (5:9-11).

DATE

Even though the Acts of the Apostles was not written for the purpose of providing a historical framework for the Pauline Corpus, there are instances where Acts and facts from ancient historical records do supplement the letters of Paul. One very important way in which Acts supplements the less specific material in the Pauline letters is in regard to chronology. Without the chronological framework of Acts, it would be much harder to know how to arrange in sequence materials from Paul's letters and to assign dates to them. It is our good fortune to be able to assign dates to about five episodes mentioned in Acts, and thereby, assign relative dates to parts of Paul's correspondence. One of these instances is the case of Acts 18 where Luke narrates the beginning of the Pauline mission in Corinth. At that point we have firm evidence for the date of the Christian mission based upon supplemental historical data. In particular, Acts indicates that Paul's work at Corinth took place while Gallio was the proconsul of Achaia (Acts 18:12). This Roman official, who was the brother of the Roman philosopher Seneca, is known from ancient Roman literature as well as archaeological data. It is this latter realm of evidence which helps specify the time of his career when he was proconsul in Corinth. This would put Paul's work at Corinth and his appearance before Gallio in the early 50s. Acts 18:11 indicates that Paul worked in Corinth for 18 months; this means that Paul's correspondence in 1 Corinthians would have occurred in approximately A.D. 55. While some interpreters have attempted to get even more precise with the dating, it seems that A.D. 55 is as specific as the evidence can support.

PROVENANCE

Paul was actually not far from Corinth when he wrote 1 Corinthians. First Corinthians 16:8 points decisively to a site on the eastern side of the Aegean Sea, in Ephesus, on the western coast of the Roman province of Asia. Travel between large port cities such as Corinth and Ephesus was frequent and relatively easy in the Roman world. Consequently, it is no surprise to find Corinthians visiting Paul, and Paul and his co-workers making visits from Asia to Corinth.

ROMAN CORINTH

The Greek city of Corinth had suffered defeat at the hands of the expanding Roman Republic in 146 B.C. The archaeological evidence does not support, however, the idea that in the ensuing years all life and Greek influence vanished from this conquered and partially desolate site. While the Greek Corinth was clearly defeated, it was not totally deserted in the decades following 146 B.C. When Julius Caesar, shortly before his assassination in 44 B.C., reestablished the city as a Roman colony, it would have quickly become a city which was dominantly, but not exclusively, Roman. Consequently, any study of Paul's letter to the church of God at Corinth must take seriously the fact that Paul was addressing a city which had been, since 44 B.C., a Roman colony ( Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthiensis ). Roman colonies were typically established as outposts for promoting Roman culture, religion, language, and political systems as well as providing lands for retired Roman soldiers. And even though Corinth was located geographically in Greece, there is no doubt that Roman mores and ideas impacted the local populace since, as Aulus Gellius noted (2nd cent. A.D.), Roman colonies "seemed to be miniatures, as it were, and in a way copies" of the Roman people. Therefore, Corinth possessed all the appropriate Roman laws, magistrates and officials.

Because of Corinth's mercantile character and important geographical location, it quickly attracted new residents from throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Consequently, by the time of Paul's arrival in Corinth, almost one century after its reestablishment as a city, the population would have included not only Romans, but also Greeks, Jews, Egyptians, Syrians, etc.

ORIGIN, STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF 1 CORINTHIANS

Even though there is not a consensus among interpreters regarding the exact nature and causes of the problems which Paul treats in 1 Corinthians, there is general agreement that the letter is organized around the cluster of problems which Paul is striving to remedy by his apostolic instruction. The letter is basically a series of smaller units of thought, each of which seems to be directed to a particular aberration in the beliefs and/or practices of the Corinthians. Paul's style in the letter is to acknowledge the existence of a sin or problem, address the sin or problem, and then move on to the next one.

Paul's information about these various problems at Corinth did not come from firsthand knowledge of his own nor through inspiration. The majority, if not all, of Paul's information about the various issues with which he dealt in the letter came most likely from two distinct human sources. The information and problems treated in 1 Cor 1-6 came from those from the house of Chloe. First Corinthians 1:11 states that "some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you," thereby identifying Paul's source of information for the problem he treats in 1 Cor 1-4. The wording of 1 Cor 5:1 "It is actually reported" points probably to additional information in 1 Cor 5-6 which was also supplied by those from Chloe's house. If this is not the case, then we have no idea who provided this report of immorality among the Corinthians.

A second major source for Paul's information is mentioned in 1 Cor 7:1 when he wrote, " Now for the matters you wrote about ." Paul is expressly acknowledging here that the list of issues and problems that he is going to respond to came from a document authored and sent by Corinthian believers to him. Numerous modern interpreters believe, rightly so in my opinion, that this Corinthian document informed Paul not only about the issue discussed in 1 Cor 7:1ff, but also the matters discussed at 8:1ff ( Now about food sacrificed to idols), 12:1ff ( Now about spiritual gifts), and 16:1ff ( Now about the collection for God's people).

At least two points can be drawn from this information. The first is that the Corinthians themselves should receive credit for the broad outline of what was discussed and treated in 1 Corinthians. In addition, one ought not overlook the fact that Paul's treatment of the Corinthians' problems is a treatment of the problems as communicated to him through an unnamed informant of one of the women members of the congregation and through a letter (authors unknown) sent to Paul which already had, regardless of its tone, an agenda for which Paul was not responsible. It is obvious, then, that even though no one seriously doubts the Pauline authorship of 1 Corinthians, it is important for the interpreter to appreciate the complex role of the Corinthians in their contribution to the content and structure of the epistle.

PROBLEMS AT CORINTH

The task of identifying and reconstructing the multiple problems within the church of God at Corinth on the basis of Paul's letter to them is not a simple one. Writing decades ago on this very problem Prof. Kirsopp Lake commented,

The difficulty which undoubtedly attends any attempt to understand the Epistles of St. Paul is largely due to the fact that they are letters; for the writer of letters assumes the knowledge of a whole series of facts, which are, as he is quite aware, equally familiar to his correspondent and to himself. But as time goes on this knowledge is gradually forgotten and what was originally quite plain becomes difficult and obscure; it has to be recovered from stray hints and from other documents by a process of laborious research, before it is possible for the letters to be read with anything approaching to the ease and intelligence possessed by those to whom they were originally sent.

There are some scholars who wish to interpret most, if not all, of the problems in 1 Corinthians as arising from one group of individuals at Corinth. The evidence of 1 Corinthians does not, in my judgment, support such a theory. There are, admittedly, aspects of this approach which are attractive. Common traits, to be sure, can be found among some of the problems. For example, Paul refers to the sin of boasting as an ingredient in more than one of the problems within the Corinthians fellowship. Likewise, the terms "division" ( , schisma ) (1 Cor 1:10; 11:18) and "dissension" (also schisma ) (1 Cor 12:25) are used by Paul in describing more than one problem situation among the letter's recipients. This common denominator of schisma does not require the conclusion that the problems of "party loyalty" in 1 Cor 1-4, abuse of the Lord's Meal in 11:17-22, and misunderstanding and misuse of spiritual gifts in 12-14 must all be traced back to a common theological aberration, to the same social stratum in the church, or to a particular house church in Corinth.

Since the goal in this commentary is to interpret 1 Corinthians as Paul's coherent letter, we must respect Paul's own categorization of the issues at Corinth if we want to understand the intent of his instruction and flow of thought as he responded and gave directions to the church of God at Corinth. If direct and explicit social links between the organizational subunits within 1 Corinthians can be isolated, so much the better for exegesis. However, to this point in time many of the rhetorical, sociological and anthropological reconstructions of the Christian community(ies) at Corinth resemble, at times, a Procrustean Bed rather than a picture put together on the basis of an exegetical-historical model.

Throughout the modern period of Pauline interpretation scholars have regularly commented on the issue of Paul's opponents at Corinth. In this interpretive context, the term opponent has become almost synonymous with those who promoted or participated in the spiritual aberrations opposed by Paul in 1 Corinthians. More recently, however, other scholars have rightly attempted to both refine and redefine the term opponent. From this ongoing discussion two points are relevant to this study of 1 Corinthians. First, one must not automatically equate the personalities, groups and aberrations behind 2 Corinthians with those behind 1 Corinthians. There is no compelling reason to believe that the two letters were written to address the exact same problems. In fact, the internal evidence leads away from such a position. (1) 1 Corinthians was written only to the church in Corinth, while 2 Corinthians was written not only to the church in Corinth but also to all believers in all the Roman province of Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital. (2) Most of the key terms and ideas of each letter are not found in the other. (3) The tenor and literary characteristics of each letter are distinctive.

The second observation from the contemporary discussion of Pauline opponents is the question of whether every spiritual aberration within a Pauline church should be interpreted as intentional and direct opposition to Paul himself. It is not a question of whether Paul ever had opponents (e.g., 2 Corinthians, Galatians), but whether the term opponent is the appropriate term for everyone who was guilty of spiritual perceptions and doctrines different than Paul's or whose lifestyle was not in harmony with Paul's ethical teachings. John Calvin touched on this point in his commentary on 1 Corinthians when he wrote, "Now, I have good reason for thinking that those worthless fellows, who had caused trouble in the Corinthian church, were not open enemies of the truth." Calvin's point is well taken and his caution in using the term opponent will be followed in this work. More explicit and extended discussions on the topic of opponents will be found at the appropriate junctures in the commentary itself.

OUTLINE OF 1 CORINTHIANS

The recognition of literary units in 1 Corinthians is part and parcel of the task of exegesis. The opening and closing of units of thought are not merely arbitrary literary embellishments nor are they just convenient ways to structure Paul's thought and feelings. These units put linguistic and semantic limits on the words and thoughts of Paul. The recognition of these demarcations in 1 Corinthians is mandated, since it helps ensure that the flow of Paul's rhetorical argument remains within the limits set by the Apostle himself. Moreover, a respect for the conceptual units and subunits of Paul's letter will greatly reduce the tendency to make his words mean more than he intended them to mean. This tendency to generalize Paul's thought and words beyond the immediate rhetorical setting comes at a high price, since it can only be maintained by denying the occasional nature of the Pauline correspondence as well as the universally recognized fact that meaning emerges from rhetorical and contextual usage.

Introduction etc. 1:1-9

Issue 1 Disunity and Community Fragmentation 1:10-4:20

Issue 2 Reports of Immorality 5:1-6:20

Issue 3 Sexuality/Celibacy/Marriage 7:1-40

Issue 4 Foods Offered to Idols 8:1-11:1

Issue 5 Liturgical Aberrations 11:2-34

Issue 6 Misunderstanding of Spiritual Gifts 12:1-14:40

Issue 7 Misunderstanding of Believers' Resurrection 15:1-58

Issue 8 Instruction for the Collection 16:1-11

Concluding topics 16:12-24

HISTORICAL MATRIX FOR THE CORINTHIAN PROBLEMS

Without going into the multifaceted issues about the historical evidence from Acts for Paul's churches and how this relates to the evidence for Paul and his churches from his own letters, it seems prudent to rely initially and primarily upon the evidence of 1 Corinthians itself rather than Luke's material in Acts to understand the nature and extent of the problems in the church at Corinth. To be specific, one must not falsely conclude, on the basis of the Lukan picture of a predominant Jewish matrix of the church in Corinth, that Jewish beliefs and practices provide the matrix for most of the aberrations within the Corinthian church. In this regard, Gordon Fee is correct when he points out that many of the problems at Corinth are explicitly traced by Paul to the converts' pagan heritage. It can be argued, furthermore, that even those issues not explicitly traced to pagan heritage by Paul can be best understood by seeing them against the backdrop of Greco-Roman rather than Jewish mores and values.

The issues depicted in 1 Corinthians arose directly from the lives of that first generation Christian community, most of whom had been believers no more than 48 months. Since Paul nowhere implies in 1 Corinthians that the Corinthian problems were introduced by outsiders, the most reasonable course to follow in evaluating the origin of the Corinthian issues is to investigate the urban setting of Roman Corinth from which the converts came. This means that the religious and cultural perspectives which shaped the beliefs and practices of those whom Paul addressed in this letter provide the best circumstantial evidence and clues for the interpretation of 1 Corinthians.

While the need to recognize the Greco-Roman matrix of the Corinthian problems might seem self-evident, the history of the interpretation of 1 Corinthians clearly reveals that not all interpreters have shared this methodological concern. In practice this approach to 1 Corinthians means that:

1. One must not attribute the Jewishness of Paul and the Scriptural basis of his own theology to those recent converts whom he was correcting. To extract texts and vocabulary from Jewish sources (e.g., Mishnah, Dead Sea Scrolls, Gospels, etc.) to understand the matrix of the Corinthians' problems is highly suspect. The fact that Paul often cites Scripture to remedy the problems at Corinth speaks more of his own Jewish heritage, his apostolic ministry, and his convictions that all Christians are to be guided by Scripture than it does that there was some significant Jewish background to the Corinthian problems.

2. The mores, patterns of culture and specific religious institutions of Greco-Roman paganism must be seen as the soil in which the Corinthian problems were germinated and grew.

3. The specific condition of the Corinth of Paul's day should be taken as the immediate setting for the converts. One must exercise caution in using information about an earlier Greek Corinth which had been destroyed in the second century B.C. and no longer existed in Paul's day in order to describe the Corinth of Paul's day.

4. One must recognize the multicultural nature of Corinth at Paul's time. It was geographically Greek, it was administratively and politically Roman, and its denizens came from throughout the central and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin. Consequently, one must reckon with ethnic influences in Paul's Corinth which reflect Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Syrian, Jewish, and Anatolian influences.

5. Vague and anachronistic labels such as gnosticism should be avoided until appropriate historical evidence and documentation can be discovered and shown to be relevant to the issues at Corinth addressed by Paul. A commitment to the notion of a gnostic background to 1 Corinthians still has advocates, though their numbers are surely down from that of the 19th and earlier part of the 20th century. Quite recently, for example, Pheme Perkins argued that

. . . gnostic mythologizing does form part of the horizon within which the New Testament should be interpreted. Students of Christian origins have become accustomed to comparing the New Testament material with a wide variety of Jewish and Greco-Roman sources. The same efforts of analysis and comparison should be applied to the gnostic material.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

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-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

ABBREVIATIONS

ABD . . . Anchor Bible Dictionary

AUSS . . . Andrews University Seminary Studies

BA . . . Biblical Archaeology

BAGD . . . Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, Danker

BAR . . . Biblical Archaeology Review

BiblThecSac . . . Bibliotheca Sacra

BJRL . . . Bulletin of the John Rylands Library

BTr . . . Bible Translator

CMM . . . Introduction to the New Testament by Carson, Moo, L. Morris

ChrSt . . . Christian Standard

DPL . . . Dictionary of Paul and His Letters

ed. . . . edited by

EQ . . . Evangelical Quarterly

ExpT . . . Expository Times

HTR . . . Harvard Theological Review

JBL . . . Journal of Biblical Literature

JSNT . . . Journal of Studies in the New Testament

JETS . . . Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

JTS . . . Journal of Theological Studies

n. . . . note

NovT . . . Novum Testamentum

NTS . . . New Testament Studies

RevEx . . . Review and Expositor

TB . . . Tyndale Bulletin

TDNT . . . Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

TS . . . Theological Studies

trans . . . translated by

WThJ . . . Westminster Theological Journal

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: 1 Corinthians (Garis Besar)

OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION - 1:1-9

A. Salutation - 1:1-3

B. Thanksgiving - 1:4-9

II. DISUNITY AND COMMUNITY FRAGMENTATION - 1:10-4:21

A. Divisions in the Church - 1:10-17

1. Report Received by Paul - 1:10-12

2. Christ Undivided - 1:13-17

B. Christ the Wisdom and Power of God - 1:18-2:5

1. The Message of the Cross - 1:18-19

2. Both Jews and Gentiles Offended - 1:20-25

3. God's Choice of Foolish Things - 1:26-31

4. Paul's Message Not Based on Eloquence - 2:1-5

C. Wisdom and Spiritual Maturity - 2:6-3:4

1. God's Secret Wisdom - 2:6-9

2. The Teaching of the Spirit - 2:10-16

3. Divisions a Sign of Worldliness - 3:1-4

D. God the Master Builder - 3:5-23

1. Paul and Apollos Merely Servants - 3:5-9

2. Building on the Foundation Laid by Paul - 3:10-17

3. God's View of Wisdom - 3:18-23

E. Apostles of Christ - 4:1-21

1. The Apostles as Servants of Christ - 4:1-5

2. Overcoming Human Pride - 4:6-7

3. Honor and Dishonor - 4:8-13

4. Paul's Warning as Father - 4:14-17

5. Arrogance to Be Confronted - 4:18-21

III. REPORTS OF IMMORALITY - 5:1-6:20

A. Discipline for the Immoral Brother - 5:1-13

1. The Corinthians' Pride in Tolerance - 5:1-5

2. Getting Rid of the Old Yeast - 5:6-8

3. Separating From Evil - 5:9-13

B. Lawsuits among Believers - 6:1-11

1. Settling Disputes in the Church - 6:1-8

2. The Inheritance of the Wicked - 6:9-11

C. Sexual Immorality - 6:12-20

1. The Body As a Member of Christ- 6:12-17

2. The Body As the Temple of the Holy Spirit - 6:18-20

IV. SEXUALITY, CELIBACY, AND MARRIAGE - 7:1-40

A. Godly Use of Sexuality - 7:1-7

B. Celibacy vs. Marriage - 7:8-11

C. Divorce and Separation - 7:12-16

D. Remaining as You Were Called - 7:17-28

E. Freedom from Concern - 7:29-40

V. DEALING WITH IDOLATRY - 8:1-11:1

A. Food Sacrificed to Idols - 8:1-13

1. The General Principle - 8:1-3

2. The Nonreality of Idols - 8:4-6

3. The Weak Brother's Dilemma - 8:7-8

4. The Proper Use of Freedom - 8:9-13

B. The Rights of an Apostle - 9:1-27

1. Paul's Rights as Apostle - 9:1-6

2. General Principle Stated - 9:7-14

3. Paul's Deferment of Rights - 9:15-18

4. To the Jew as a Jew - 9:19-23

5. Looking Forward to the Prize - 9:24-27

C. Warnings From Israel's History - 10:1-13

1. Wandering in the Desert - 10:1-5

2. Punishment for Sins - 10:6-10

3. Examples for Us - 10:11-13

D. Idol Feasts and the Lord's Supper - 10:14-22

1. The Lord's Supper a Participation - 10:14-17

2. The Lord's Table and the Table of Demons - 10:18-22

3. The Christian's Freedom - 10:23-11:1

VI. LITURGICAL ABERRATIONS - 11:2-34

A. Propriety in Worship - 11:2-16

1. Head Coverings in Worship - 11:2-10

2. Hair in the Nature of Things - 11:11-16

B. The Lord's Supper - 11:17-34

1. The Corinthians' Practice - 11:17-22

2. The Lord's Supper As Instituted - 11:23-26

3. Self-examination to Avoid Judgment - 11:27-34

VII. MISUNDERSTANDING OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS - 12:1-14:40

A. Spiritual Gifts - 12:1-11

1. Influence of the Spirit - 12:1-3

2. Different Gifts for a Common Good - 12:4-11

B. One Body, Many Parts - 12:12-31a

1. One Body in Christ - 12:12-13

2. Body Members Not Independent - 12:14-20

3. Special Honor for Weaker Parts - 12:21-26

4. Application to the Body of Christ - 12:27-31a

C. Love - 12:31b-13:13

1. Gifts Without Love Pointless - 12:31b-13:3

2. The Virtues of Love - 13:4-7

3. The Permanence of Love - 13:8-13

D. Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues - 14:1-25

1. Tongues and Prophecy Compared - 14:1-5

2. Tongues and Clarity - 14:6-12

3. The Spirit and the Mind - 14:13-19

4. Maturity and Spiritual Gifts - 14:20-25

E. Orderly Worship - 14:26-40

1. Control of Tongues and Prophecy - 14:26-33

2. Submission of Women - 14:34-35

3. Everything Fitting and Orderly - 14:36-40

VIII. MISUNDERSTANDING OF BELIEVERS' RESURRECTION - 15:1-58

A. The Gospel Paul Preached - 15:1-11

1. Relation of the Corinthians to the Gospel - 15:1-2

2. Basic Issues of the Gospel - 15:3-4

3. Appearances and Apostleship - 15:5-11

B. Christ's Resurrection and the Resurrection

of the Dead - 15:12-34

1. Consequences of Denying the Resurrection - 15:12-19

2. The Fact of Christ's Resurrection - 15:20-28

3. Baptism, Suffering, and the Resurrection - 15:29-34

C. Answers to Some Problems about the

Resurrection - 15: 35-58

1. A Twofold Question - 15:35-41

2. An Explanation of the Resurrection of the Dead - 15:42-50

3. The Secret Revealed - 15:51-58

IX. INSTRUCTION FOR THE COLLECTION - 16:1-11

A. The Collection for God's People - 16:1-4

B. Paul's Travel Plans - 16:5-9

C. Assisting Timothy - 16:10-11

X. CONCLUSION - 16:12-24

A. Personal Requests - 16:12-18

B. Final Greetings - 16:19-24

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV