Tongues and Prophecy in the Balance (1 Corinthians 14:6-19)

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14:6. Intelligibility makes for edification.

  1. Music should be understood.
    • 14:7. Distinct notes are needed.
    • 14:8; Num.10:9. The bugle ‘speaks’, as it were, only if those hearing can tell if the message is to wake up, advance or retreat.
  2. Conversation should be understood.
    • 14:9-11. The word is ‘barbarian’ (barbaros) which meant anyone who could not speak Greek. It is translated as ‘native people’ in the ESV in Acts 28:2. It was a little like our ‘Blah, blah, blah’.
    • 14:12; see 12:7; 14:5-6.
  3. Worship should be understood.
    • 14:12-17; in Eastern religions, people will chant Om for hours; Pope Gregory VII: ‘Having frequently searched the holy scriptures, we have discovered that it has pleased, and still pleases, Almighty God to direct His worship in a hidden language.’; Edward Irving: ‘Keep your conscience unfettered by your understanding.’; People who recite creeds or who take vows without understanding what they are doing. See 14:18-19 (like Philippians 3:4-7); five understandable words will do you more good than myriads of incomprehensible words.
    • Augustine: ‘The message of your Holy Scriptures has set my heart throbbing, O Lord, and with the meagre powers that are mine in this life I struggle hard to understand it.’