1 Corinthians 14:21

1 Corinthians 14:21

19 yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Tongues a Sign to Unbelievers

20 Brethren, ^ado not be children in understanding; however, in malice ^bbe babes, but in understanding be mature.

21 ^aIn the law it is written:
^b“With men of other tongues and other lips
I will speak to this people;
And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord.

22 Therefore tongues are for a ^asign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.

23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, ^awill they not say that you are¹ out of your mind?

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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1 Corinthians 14:22 >>

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," John 10:34. Here the quotation is from Isaiah 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" (Isaiah 28:9), "with stammering lips" speaking unintelligibly to the hearers, appearing ridiculous (Isaiah 28:14), or as babbling drunkards (Acts 2:13), or madmen (I Corinthians 14:23).

**Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing 1 Corinthians 14:21:**

Ezekiel 3:6
1 Corinthians 14:22

<< 1 Corinthians 14:20

1 Corinthians 14:22 >>

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Tongues a Sign to Unbelievers