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NASB | 1 Corinthians 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. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Corinthians 14:2 For one who speaks in an unknown tongue does not speak to people but to God; for no one understands him or catches his meaning, but by the Spirit he speaks mysteries [secret truths, hidden things]. |
Bible Question: A pastor said "tongue speaks not to men but to God" should read "tongue speaks not men but to god" in Greek because a article "the" is missing before "god" in this verse. He interpret this refer to a pagan's god. So speak in tongue not to men but to a pagan god. What translation version does he refer to? Is it NIV or KJV. Where can I find a better translation for this verse. |
Bible Answer: Greeting Ivory313! Greek deals with articles a little differently than English. In Greek, the normal state of a word is without an article. When an article is used, it is for emphasis. There is no such rule that 'God' without an article means a pagan god. To illustrate, the following are verses in 1 Corinthians where the word 'God' is used without a definite article. 1) 1 Cor. 1:1 - "Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes," 2) 1 Cor. 1:3 - "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 3) 1 Cor. 1:18 - " For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 4) 1 Cor. 1:24 - "but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." 5) 1 Cor. 1:30 - "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." 6) 1 Cor. 2:5 - "so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power." 7) 1 Cor. 2:7 - "No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began." (Note: 1st occurance only) 8) 1 Cor. 3:9 - "For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building." 9) 1 Cor. 3:16 - "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?" (Note: 1st occurance only) 10) 1 Cor. 3:23 - " and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God." 11) 1 Cor. 4:1 - "So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God." 12) 1 Cor. 6:9 - "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders" 13) 1 Cor. 6:10 - "nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." 14) 1 Cor. 6:19 - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;" 15) 1 Cor. 7:7 - "I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that." 16) 1 Cor. 7:19 - "Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts." 17) 1 Cor. 7:24 - "Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to." 18) 1 Cor. 7:40 - "In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God." 19) 1 Cor. 8:4 - "So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one." 20) 1 Cor. 8:5 - "For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘‘gods” and many ‘‘lords”)," 21) 1 Cor. 8:6 - "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live." I could go on, but these last three verses are an excellent illustration that the presence or absence of the article with 'God' does not mean a pagan god as opposed to the true God. 1 Cor. 8:5 clearly refers to false gods, while 8:6 clearly refers to the true God, yet neither have the definite article. I hope this helps! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |