Lessons #479 and 480
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Desirability of prophecy over tongues (1 Cor 14:1-5)
1Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 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. 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, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.
The message of this section of 1 Corinthians 14:1-5 that we stated previously is that the church should be more zealous about prophesying than to speaking in tongues while being mindful of the importance of love. This message is based on the two introductory commands the apostle issued in verse 1 that are concerned with love and prophecy. We noted that the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul wanted the Corinthians and so all believers to make it their habit to pursue love and to be zealous about the spiritual gift of prophecy. The command regarding being zealous about the gift of prophecy over speaking in tongues is because of some reasons the apostle gave in the section before us. As we ended our last study, we indicated that there are reasons for the instruction to be more zealous regarding prophecy that we promised we will consider in our study today. It is with the reasons that the apostle gave for the preference of gift of prophecy over gift of speaking in tongues that we begin our study this morning.
The reasons the apostle gave for the preference of prophesying over speaking in tongues are given in verses 2 to 4. The reasons the apostle supplied may generally be taken to be two. The first general reason is that speaking in tongue is usually directed by and to God and the second is that prophecy benefits the church unlike speaking in tongues that benefits an individual. We will consider these two general reasons as given in the verses we referenced.
We assert that verses 2 to 4 are concerned with reasons for the preference of gift of prophecy over the gift of speaking in tongues because verse 2 begins with the word for in the NIV. The word “for” is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) that has several usages. For example, it can be used as a marker of inference with the meaning “so, then, by all means” or it can be used as a marker of cause or reason for something in which case it may be translated “for, because.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:2, it is used as a marker of reason for the command for the Corinthians to be zealous about the gift of prophecy.
The first general reason for the command to the Corinthians and so to the church to be zealous about gift of prophecy is, as we have already indicated, that speaking in tongue is usually directed by and to God. It is this reason that is stated in the first sentence of 1 Corinthians 14:2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God.
The word “speaks” is translated from a Greek word (laleō) that may mean “to make a sound” by inanimate objects, as it is used for the blood of Jesus Christ that speaks more effectively than that of Abel according to Hebrews 12:24:
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Literal blood does not speak, so that the sense here is that blood communicates or makes a sound. Of course, the human author of Hebrews indicates that the death of Christ communicates truth that is more effective than the death of Abel. The word may mean “to speak” with various nuances but let us consider few of these. To speak may mean “to express oneself” as that is the sense of the word in the instruction about women’s conduct in a local church meeting in 1 Corinthians 14:34:
women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.
The standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG suggests that the sentence They are not allowed to speak may be translated they are not permitted to express themselves. To speak in some context may mean “to preach” as the word is used by Apostle Paul in describing the effort of the Jews to keep him and others from preaching the gospel to the Gentiles as he stated in 1 Thessalonians 2:16:
in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.
Speaking to the Gentiles is not merely chattering with them but presenting the gospel to them so it may mean “to preach.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:2, it is used with the sense of “to express in speech,” that is, “to speak.” The Greek used a participle so that the literal Greek reads the speaking that refers to any believer that expresses self in special way or utters special words.
This expression in speech in a special way or utterance of special words is described with the phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:2 in a tongue. The word “tongue” is translated from a Greek word (glōssa) that means “tongue.” “Tongue” may refer literally to a body part as an organ of speech as what was loosed to enable Zechariah to speak just before the naming of his son, John the Baptist, as we read in Luke 1:64:
Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God.
Figuratively, “tongue” is used for split flames in Acts 2:3:
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
The word may mean “language” unique to a people as it is used by those from other nations that were present on the Day of Pentecost to acknowledge hearing the disciples speak in their various languages the great things God has done when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place as we read in Acts 2:11:
(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
To remove any misunderstanding of what tongues means in this passage, some of our modern English versions rendered the phrase our own tongues as our own languages as we find, for example, in the NET among others. It is in the sense of “language” that “tongue” is used to describe different peoples of the nations that are redeemed as we read in Revelation 5:9:
And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
The English versions that are prone to literal translation such as the Authorized Version (KJV) or the NASB translated the word “tongue” instead of “language” in this passage in Revelation. The Greek word may mean “ecstatic language”, that is, “an utterance outside the normal patterns of intelligible speech and therefore requiring special interpretation” as the word is used to describe those who received the Holy Spirit when Apostle Peter preached the gospel to Cornelius and those assembled in his house as we read in Acts 10:46:
For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said.
It is in the sense of “ecstatic language” the word is used to describe one of the activities of those in Ephesus that received the Holy Spirit when Apostle Paul placed his hands on them as stated in Acts 19:6:
When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:2, the Greek word means “language,” that is, any language but often referring to a language one has never studied and a supernatural ability to speak (or be understood) in it. Of course, it refers to strange speech of persons in religious ecstasy that must be interpreted to help others understand what is uttered. There are those who take “tongues” here as a reference to a humanly language but there is no clear evidence for this interpretation. Thus, it is best to understand “tongue” here is a strange speech of a person that the individual has not learned or does not even understand. You see, even in the day of Pentecost when the disciples spoke in different languages, what they said sounded strange to fellow Jews who knew only the Aramaic that is why they charged the disciples of being drunk. If there were no people from the countries whose languages they spoke under the control of the Spirit, “tongue” would have simply been regarded as “strange speech.” The point is that it is best to regard tongue here as a reference to a strange speech of a person in a religious ecstasy.
That the expression in speech in a special way is not the ordinary communication of a person directed to others is clear from the strong assertion of the apostle in 1 Corinthians 14:2 anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. The apostle is certainly emphatic in this declaration since the word “not” is translated from a Greek negative particle (ou) that is an objective negative, denying the reality of alleged fact fully and absolutely in contrast to another Greek negative (mē) that is a subjective negative, implying a conditional and hypothetical negation. The negative the apostle used here shuts the door to the possibility that a person who speaks in a language described with the word “tongue” directs what the person says to humans.
We use the word “human” because the word “men” in the NIV is translated from a Greek noun (anthrōpos) that means “a human being” without regard to gender, as Apostle Paul used it to describe the fate of evil doers in Romans 2:9:
There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
The word may mean “man” as a male person as the apostle used it to describe Jesus Christ in His humanity in Romans 5:15:
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
The word may mean “self” as it is used in the instruction of Romans 6:6:
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
The phrase old self is literally old man. The word may mean “person” as that is the way the word is used when the concern is to be inclusive of men and women, as in the doctrine of justification by faith the apostle stated in Galatians 2:16:
know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Justification is for both men and women so that the phrase a man is to be understood as “a person,” hence the NRSV simply used the phrase a person. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:2, it is used in the sense of “human beings” since we have the plural in the Greek. Of course, in context, it is not a reference to all humans but specifically to believers assembled for worship.
Be that as it may, there is the question of how to understand the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:2 does not speak to men but to God. There are at least three possible ways of interpreting it. It could be understood that the person who speaks in tongues speaks not with reference to humans but with reference to God. This will mean that the person’s speech is not directed to humans but to God. Another interpretation is that the one who speaks in tongues speaks not for the benefit of others but in interest of God. This means that the person speaks in such a way as to reflect God’s interest in the exercise of the gift. Still another interpretation is that the person who speaks in tongues does not speak for the benefit of humans but by the means of God. These interpretations are possible because of the Greek syntax involved. Nonetheless, it seems that the apostle meant to convey that the person who speaks in tongues does so not to benefit human beings but speaks by means of God the Holy Spirit in such a way that only God understands the person. Hence, the apostle in the verbal phrase does not speak to men but to God meant for us to understand that the person speaks in tongue that is given by God and directed to Him.
The reason believers are not benefited by the one who speaks under the empowerment of the Holy Spirit is because they do not comprehend what the individual says. The explanation or reason for asserting that no one is benefited from the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongues is introduced with the word indeed of the NIV. The word “indeed” of the NIV is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) that we indicated previously in the beginning of 1 Corinthians 14:2 has several usages. It can be used as a marker of inference or self-evident conclusion with the translation “indeed, so, certainly.” It is possible to interpret it this way in its second use in our verse, but it is more likely that the apostle used it to provide reason or explanation for his assertion that a person who speaks in tongue does not benefit humans, specifically believers.
The explanation the apostle gave is stated in 1 Corinthians 14:2 Indeed, no one understands him. The phrase no one assumes that there is no person with the gift of interpretation of tongues at the specific instant of the person who speaks in tongues. Anyhow, the word “understands” is translated from a Greek word (akouō) with basic meaning “to hear” but has a range of meanings. The word can literally mean “to hear” in the sense of exercising the faculty of hearing as the apostle used it with respect to people hearing the preaching of the gospel message in Romans 10:14:
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
It is in this literal sense that the apostle used the Greek word to narrate his experience of being taken to the third heaven stated in 2 Corinthians 12:4:
was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.
Another meaning of the Greek word is “to learn about something”, that is, to receive news or information about something. It is in this sense that the apostle used it to indicate he learned of the sexual immorality that was present in the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 5:1:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife.
The sentence It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you is more literally immorality is actually heard of among you. Another meaning of the word is “to hear and understand a message”, as it is used in the Apostle Paul’s narrating his conversion experience as Luke recorded in Acts 22:9:
My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
The sentence they did not understand the voice is more literally did not hear the voice which is clearly not what the apostle meant since those with him actually heard a sound but did not see the source of the sound. Instead, what the apostle meant is that none of his traveling companion made sense of the sound they heard and so the meaning of the Greek word is “to understand.” Another meaning of the word is “to listen”, as it is used in Acts 28:28:
“Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!”
By the way, it is this meaning of the Greek word that is used by translators of the NABRE. The Greek word can mean “to listen” in the sense of “to obey.” It is in this sense that the word is used in reporting the response of Apostles Peter and John to the instruction of the Jewish authority not to preach Christ in Acts 4:19:
But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.
The verbal phrase to obey you rather than God is literally to listen to you rather than God. Surely, the apostles did not mean merely to listen in the sense of hearing what the Jewish authorities said; instead, they meant that it is inappropriate to obey them or accept their prohibition regarding preaching of Christ. It is in this sense of hearing and obeying that the word is used in the instruction given to the three disciples of Jesus Christ during His transfiguration experience, as stated in Matthew 17:5:
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
The voice from heaven which is that of God the Father is not instructing the disciples to merely listen to the Son but to hear and obey Him. The Greek word can also mean to believe something and to respond to it on the basis of having heard hence “to accept, to listen and respond, to pay attention and respond.” It is this meaning that is intended in the instruction of our Lord with respect to how a believer deals with another believer who has wronged that believer in Matthew 18:15:
“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
The context suggests that it is not merely hearing that is intended here but that of believing and accepting that one has done something wrong. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:2, it is used in the sense of “to understand,” that is, “to make sense of a language.” The apostle’s explanation is that the reason believers are not benefited in the exercise of speaking in tongues for which no one interprets is that no one can make sense of the language spoken by the one who speaks in tongue.
The apostle did not stop with providing the first explanation of the reason speaking in tongue does not benefit believers, but he went further to elaborate his explanation as we read in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 14:2 he utters mysteries with his spirit. Literally, the Greek reads but he speaks mysteries in spirit. The literal conjunction “but” is translated from a Greek particle (de) that may be used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation but in certain occurrences this marker of continuation may be left untranslated as it is done here in the NIV and a handful of our English versions. Although it is often translated “but” in the English, as done in this verse in the ESV or the NASB when there is a perceived contrast between two clauses, it has other meanings such as “now,” “then,” “and,” “so” when it is used to link segments of a narrative. It can also be used to provide explanation to what preceded so that it may be translated “that is.” In our verse, although some interpret it with the meaning “but,” it seems that its usage is either as a further explanation of what it means that no one understands the person who speaks in tongue, or it provides reason for stating that a person who speaks in tongue does not benefit others. It is probably this second approach that is adopted in either the NRSV that began the clause we are about to consider with the word “since” or the ISV that began the clause with the word “because.” It is difficult to decide whether the Greek conjunction translated “but” should be interpreted as supplying further reason for why no one understands the person who speaks in tongue or providing the explanation of what it means not to understand the person who speaks in tongue. So, this may be a case where we have the Greek particle used to indicate both reason and explanation since in the final analysis there is no significant difference between the two interpretations in our present context. In any event, the apostle wrote in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 14:2 he utters mysteries with his spirit.
What does the apostle mean by mysteries? To understand what he meant we need to examine the word “mystery.” It is translated from a Greek word (mystērion) that was used in ancient Greece for secret religious ceremonies that were only known to those who were initiated into a given cult who were not at liberty to disclose them to others. Whatever these ceremonies were, they were unknown to the initiates until they became members of the given group. Thus, the word does not mean something that is difficult or impossible to explain as people often think of the word “mystery.” No, the word refers to the content of that which has not been known before, but which has been revealed to a restricted group of persons because they belong to a unique group of people. It is a word that was used frequently in Jewish apocalyptic literature for the secrets made known to God’s elect but hidden from others. A typical example of such secret is the messianic kingdom or final judgment. So, the word as used in the NT means divine secret that was previously undisclosed so that there was no way any person could know it apart from divine revelation, but it has now been revealed to some persons. The secret of God revealed is now in the NT Scripture as an open secret that only those who are spiritually enlightened and know the Scripture would become aware. For example, Apostle Paul used our word to describe the fact revealed to him that not all believers will die at the time of the second coming of Christ but that all would be transformed as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:51:
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—
That the Greek word refers to secrets disclosed to a select few but hidden from others is reflected in Jesus’ use of the word in answering the questions of the disciples in Matthew 13:11:
He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
Here our Greek word is translated “secrets” so that it refers to truths that were then revealed to the disciples and not to the crowd. The phrase the secrets of the kingdom refers to Jesus’ teaching about the various aspects of the kingdom of God that were only revealed to the disciples. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:2, the word refers to “a secret whose concerned party is a deity alone and those to whom he chooses to share the information; especially concerning the method and history of God’s redemption or other supernatural information” and so means “divine secret.” So, the apostle meant that anyone who speaks in tongue enabled by the Holy Spirit speaks “divine secret” that is not understood without further interpretation.
The divine secret that some who speak in tongues utters is described with the phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:2 mysteries with his spirit. A literal translation is mysteries in spirit. The literal translation reveals that there are two problems with the interpretation of the Greek. The first problem is the relation between mysteries and spirit and the second is how to interpret “spirit.”
The first problem of how to relate the word “mysteries” to “spirit” is because the word “spirit” is in what is known as dative case in the Greek. The basic sense of the dative is that of personal interest so that it refers to advantage or disadvantage associated with a person or thing that is acted upon. However, the dative can be interpreted in several ways in relationship to the action associated with a person or a thing. In our verse, there are at least three possible interpretations of the action of speaking as it relates to the “spirit.” A first interpretation is that the manner of speaking in tongues is “spirit” so we can translate “with/in spirit.” A second interpretation is that the spirit is the means of speaking in tongues leading to the translation “by means of/with spirit.” A third interpretation is that speaking in tongues is because of spirit and so we translate “because of spirit.” Which of these interpretations is what the apostle intended? The answer depends on the resolution of the second problem which is how to understand “spirit” in the verse we are considering.
The word “spirit” is translated from a Greek word (pneuma) that may mean “wind”, as in the description by our Lord of one that is born again in John 3:8:
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The word may mean “breath” as Apostle Paul used it to describe the manner of the destruction of the future lawless one by the Lord Jesus in 2 Thessalonians 2:8:
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
The word may mean “spirit” as that which animates or gives life to the body, as the word is used to indicate that without it the body is lifeless in James 2:26:
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
It may mean “spirit” as part of human personality with various nuances. For example, it may refer to a person’s “very self” or “ego” as it is used by Apostle Paul in describing the assurance of the Holy Spirit to a believer regarding salvation in Romans 8:16:
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
According to the standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG, the sentence The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit is better translated the Spirit (of God) bears witness to our very self. The word may refer to the immaterial part of a person in contrast to the material body, as Apostle Paul used it in his appeal to the Corinthians for holy living in 2 Corinthians 7:1:
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
Under this meaning of the immaterial part of a person, it could refer to the source and seat of insight, feeling, and will, generally as the representative part of human inner life so that it may mean “mind.” It is this meaning that is used in Apostle Paul’s description of his state when he could not find Titus, as we read in 2 Corinthians 2:13:
I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.
The phrase peace of mind is literally rest in my spirit. Still in this meaning, it could refer to “spiritual state, state of mind, disposition”, as it is used to describe the disposition that a believing wife should have to be considered beautiful in 1 Peter 3:4:
Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
As suggested in the standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG, the phrase quiet spirit may be translated quiet disposition. The Greek word may mean “spirit” as an independent noncorporeal being, in contrast to a being that can be perceived by the physical senses. Consequently, it is used for created spirit-beings whether their function is good or bad. Apostle Paul used it to describe harmful spirits that will attempt to deceive people, as he presented in 1 Timothy 4:1:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
The word may mean God’s being as controlling influence, with focus on association with humans hence means “Spirit.” Accordingly, Apostle Paul used it to describe God the Holy Spirit using different phrases. For example, he described the Holy Spirt as the Spirit of God in Philippians 3:3:
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
He described the Holy Spirit as “Spirit of Jesus Christ” in Philippians 1:19:
for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
A person may say that the two passages in Philippians that we have cited do not decisively imply that the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Jesus Christ is a description of the Holy Spirit. If that is the case, let me refer to a passage that leaves no doubt that the Holy Spirit may be described as the Spirt of Jesus. Luke reports how the Holy Spirit kept Apostle Paul and his team from preaching the gospel in a specified region as we read in Acts 16:6:
Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
It is the Holy Spirit that kept Apostle Paul and his team from preaching in the province of Asia but then Luke reports that it was the Spirit of Jesus that would not allow the apostle and his team from entering the province of Asia as we read in Acts 16:7:
When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
Mysia was an area in northwest Asia Minor, part of the province of Asia. Thus, the Spirit of Jesus in verse 7 is in parallelism to the Holy Spirit in verse 6. Therefore, there is no doubt that the Spirit of Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit.
We have considered the range of meanings of the Greek word translated literally “spirit” in our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:2, the question is to determine in which way it is used in our passage. There are two possible interpretations. It could refer to the human spirit acted upon by the Holy Spirit or it could refer to the Holy Spirit. It is our interpretation that it refers to the Holy Spirit. There are at least two reasons for this interpretation. The apostle referenced God in the first clause of 1 Corinthians 14:2 anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Thus, when the apostle used the Greek word that means “spirit” he must have thought of God the Holy Spirit. It is true that he did not use a definite article before the Greek word translated “spirit” but that is no problem. This is because in some other contexts, the apostle meant the Holy Spirit without using a definite article to qualify the Greek word that means “spirit.” A good example is given in Romans 8:4:
in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
The phrase according to the Spirit is literally according to spirit. Thus, that the apostle did not use a definite article with the word Spirit does not negate our interpretation. Another reason for interpreting the Greek word translated “spirit” in 1 Corinthians 14:2 as reference to the Holy Spirit is that granting of speaking in tongues is the work of the Holy Spirit as evident in the outpouring o the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost as we read in Acts 2:4:
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Of course, a person may argue that it is the human spirit that is in view because the apostle spoke of praying in tongues by his spirit as we read in 1 Corinthians 14:14:
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
It is true that the apostle speaks of his spirit here, but this reference is further removed from the apostle’s statement in verse 2 that he would not expect the reader to wait to verse 14 to understand what he meant by “spirit” soon after referring to God. The point is that it is our interpretation that the apostle used our Greek word as a reference to the Holy Spirit.
We have interpreted that the Greek word translated “spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit, so we are now ready to interpret the literal phrase in 1 Corinthians 14:2 mysteries in spirit. The dative case used is to be understood as giving the means of speaking in tongues so that the phrase may be translated mysteries by the Spirit. The implication is that the apostle explained what it means that no one understands the one who speaks in tongues or gives the reason no one understands the person that speaks in tongue. People do not understand a person who speaks in tongue because it is by the Holy Spirit that such a person utters the mysteries or divine secrets. In effect, the words the person utters are words given by the Holy Spirit, so it makes it difficult to understand the one who exercises the gift of speaking in tongues. In any event, the first general reason for preferring the exercise of the gift of prophecy to that of speaking in tongues is that people do not comprehend what the individuals utters. In effect, others do not understand the individual since what is spoken is by the Holy Spirit so that the very words spoken are the words the Holy Spirit puts in a person’s mouth that are only understood by God and not by humans. This brings us to the second reason.
A second general reason for preferring the exercise of the gift of prophecy to that of speaking in tongues is that exercise of the gift of prophecy builds up believers spiritually unlike the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongues. The apostle signaled that he was about to contrast the usefulness of the gift of tongues to that of prophecy because he began his next sentence with a Greek particle (de) that we had previously indicated may be used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation. It is as a marker of contrast that it is used in our clause to contrast between the exercise of gift of tongues and gift of prophecy.
The apostle conveys that in contrast to the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongues that although given by the Holy Spirit is only understood by God, the gift of prophecy is understood by believers leading to building them up spiritually. It is this benefit of exercising the gift of prophecy that is given in the clause of 1 Corinthians 14:3 everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. A literal translation is the (one) prophesying speaks to men upbuilding and encouragement and comfort.
The first thing we note regarding what the apostle states in verse 3 is that the activity of prophesying is for the benefit of people, specifically, believers since its contents involve human language that people could understand. We say this because of the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:3 speaks to men. It is this verbal phrase that caused some to interpret the phrase to God in verse 2 to imply that one speaking in tongue speaks to God which no doubt is true, but we have argued that it means that a person who speaks in tongue does so by means of the Holy Spirit although it is only understood by God so that the phrase to God fully unpacked means “by God and to God.” Consequently, the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:2 does not speak to men but to God will read does not speak to men but by God and to God. Anyway, we need to understand what the phrase to men means. The word “men” is translated from a Greek word (anthrōpos) with several meanings that we have considered previously.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:3, it is used in the sense of “human being” although the emphasis is on believers since they are generally the recipients of prophecy.
In any case, the concern is to understand the meaning conveyed in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:3 to men. This phrase is the translation of the dative case of the Greek word that we said means “human being.” We had indicated that the dative is subject to several interpretations in relation to the action related to it. Here the apostle used it in the sense of advantage to those who hear the activity of prophesying. Thus, the Greek may be translated fully as for the benefit of humans. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the apostle then proceeds to enumerate how speaking activity associated with prophecy benefits believers. What are the benefits the apostle enumerated? We will answer this in our next study. Nonetheless, let me end by reminding you of the message of the section we are considering which is the church should be more zealous about prophesying than to speaking in tongues while being mindful of the importance of love.
12/23//22