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NASB | 1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 13:1 ¶ If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [for others growing out of God's love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction]. |
Subject: Speaking in tongues? Use by women? |
Bible Note: To get things started on this -- it seems to me that there are at least 2 reasons indicated for tongues in 1 Cor 14 (and supported elsewhere). 1) Personal edification through pure undefiled praise and prayer. (1Co 14:2 "For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.") Pure spiritual worship edifies the worshipper, and the flesh does not interact with this worship; since it comes through the Spirit to the tongue without any personal interpretation, any fleshly attitudes of the mind CAN not affect the message. If the speech is then interpreted, the mind of the speaker -- as well as other believers who now understand the praise or prayer -- can join in the edification through agreement ("say the 'amen'" to your prayer worship or thanksgiving (1 Cor 14:13-17). The tongues in Acts 1 and Acts 10 also fit this pattern of being supernatural prayers of worship. 2) A miraculous sign for those who already believe, so long as they can understand the language. (This is confusing to follow in most translations of 1 Corinthians 14:22-25, but I believe the actual meaning of v.22 is clarified pretty directly by vv.23-25. The point, as clarified in vv. 23-25, is that TONGUES DO NOT LEAD TO BELIEF for those who don't want to believe, whereas PROPHECY DOES LEAD TO BELIEF because it exposes the sinner's heart. Only those who believe and/or understand can see the miraculous nature of tongues, and there is no edification (except to the spirit of the speaker) for anyone who can't understand what is being said. |