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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +

+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +

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²⁶What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. ²⁷If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. ²⁹Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. ³⁰And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. ³¹For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. ³²The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. ³³For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

The message of this section of 1 Corinthians 14:26-33a as we stated in our last study is this: All worship activities in a local church should be orderly. We indicated that this section consists of introductory remarks regarding the various typical activities of worship in a local church in verse 26. In verses 27 to 28, the apostle regulated the practice of speaking in tongues during public worship of believers. This he followed in verses 29-32 with the regulation of the exercise of gift of prophecy in a local church. Then he ended in verse 33a, by providing a general reason for regulating worship activities of believers in a local church. We have considered the introductory remarks, so we proceed with regulation of the practice of speaking in tongues.

Manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially the spectaculars, are not a given they would occur in a given time. We mean that the Holy Spirit directs when a given spiritual gift would be evident. It is not up to any human to announce ahead of time when such a manifestation would take place. The point we are making implies there is something wrong with anyone claiming that the manifestation of the Holy Spirit would take place in a given meeting of believers. You hear some preachers announce that there will be healing in their meetings in a given day so that they invite people to come and experience God’s physical healing. Such a statement has no pattern in the Scripture. I mean that if you read the Acts of the Apostles, you will not find where any of the apostles announced ahead of time that healing will take place. When Peter healed the paralytic, he did not announce that ahead of time. Of course, someone could say that the apostle on another occasion anticipated God to perform a miracle when the apostle went to pray for Dorcas to be raised from the dead. Even in that event, Peter did not announce that the woman would be raised from the dead but trusted that the Lord would do something miraculous. He did not promise anyone that any miracle would take place. When Apostle Paul healed a crippled man during his missionary work at Lystra, he did not announce that healing ahead of time. It happened as the Holy Spirit directed him because we learn that the apostle perceived that the man had faith to be healed as we read in Acts 14:9–10:

⁹He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed ¹⁰and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

The point we are stressing is that no one knows ahead of time when God would heal or when the Holy Spirit would cause a manifestation of a certain kind of spiritual gift in a local church.

Why am I stressing this point? You may ask. It is because the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul indicated that the exercise of the gift of tongues is not a guaranteed event that one would expect to occur in a local church assembled to worship. That it is not a guaranteed event that speaking in tongues would occur in a local church in Corinth and in any local church for that matter, is introduced with the very first word of if of 1 Corinthians 14:27. The word “if” is translated from a Greek word (eite) that is used in our verse to set up a condition that exists or that is considered hypothetical. In other words, the apostle sets up a condition that has to be true for what he gave to take place. The apostle does not imply that speaking in tongues would take place, but his instruction implies that speaking in tongues actually occurs in an assembly of believers in Corinth for worship. When that actually takes place then his regulation applies. Nonetheless, he did not mean that it must occur but admits that such has been occurring although there is no guarantee such would occur.

The reality of speaking in tongues is given in the sentence anyone speaks in a tongue. The word “tongue” is translated from a Greek word (glōssa) that here refers to either an “ecstatic language” or “human language, that is, foreign to others and the speaker that is given by the Holy Spirit.” Hence, for the instruction that the apostle gives to take place there must be an actual practice of the gift of speaking in tongues regardless of the nature of the tongue spoken.

The instruction of the apostle is concerned with regulating the number of people who could exercise the gift during worship in a local church. The number is limited to a maximum of three persons as we read in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 14:27 two—or at the most three—should speak. This instruction has been interpreted to mean that the apostle is concerned either with a single worship session or with a given time during a worship session. That aside, it is my interpretation that this sentence puts a limit to the number of participants in the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongue during a worship session. The context in which the apostle was concerned that speaking in tongues does not dominate the entire worship service supports our interpretation. Another support that the apostle is concerned with a worship session is indicated by the phrase at the most. The expression “at … most” is translated from a Greek word (polys) that pertains to being a large number, hence means “many, a great number of” as Apostle Paul used it to indicate that many individuals would be made righteous because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross as we read in Romans 5:19:

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

The word may in some contexts mean “majority” or “most” as the word is used to describe those that decided for the ship carrying Apostle Paul to Rome to proceed instead of listening to the advice of the apostle not to proceed as we read in Acts 27:12:

Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

The word may mean “number” in the sense of undetermined quantity as it is used in Paul’s defense in referencing the period of governorship of Governor Felix over Israel as we read in Acts 24:10:

When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so I gladly make my defense.

The word may mean “few” in reference to a number that is less than or equal to ten as in the promise of the Lord to the disciples regarding the event that occurred about ten days after His ascension as we read in Acts 1:5:

For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:27, because the word is used with a definite article in the Greek means “at the most.” That aside, the Greek word is used with the sense of “no more than” a declared number in the context.

The number in view in the context is “three” which is another indicator that the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul puts a limit to the number of participants in the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongue during a worship session. The word “three” is translated from a Greek word (treis) that means “three” as a count that is one more than two. The use of the number “three” by the apostle indicates that after a third use of the exercise of the gift of tongue that another activity should take place in the worship session. To understand our assertion, let me review what we studied in the past about the use of the number three to describe events that occur three times.

Events that occur third or more times have special significance in Scripture. According to the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, the minimum number necessary to establish a pattern of occurrences is three. This source states “A single event can be pure chance; a pair can be mere coincidence; but three consecutive occurrences of an event serve as a rhetorical signal indicating special significance.”^¹ This significance is evident in the fact that it was after Yahweh called Samuel the third time that Eli the priest recognized that Yahweh was speaking to Samuel, as stated in 1 Samuel 3:8:

The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy.

The significance of the number three is evident in the Scripture in that when there are three consecutive events that occur in the Scripture then there is on the part of reader the expectation that something new is about to occur or that something unexpected is likely to happen. This is illustrated with the narrative of Balaam beating up on his donkey when he was on his way to meet with Balak. The Angel of the Lord stood on his way to oppose him. When his donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, it turned away from the road causing Balaam to beat it, as stated in Numbers 22:23:

When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, she turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat her to get her back on the road.

Balaam’s second beating of the donkey occurred when the donkey pressed close to the wall on the road it was traveling because of the blocking of the way by the Angel of the Lord, as stated in Numbers 22:24–25:

²⁴ Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between two vineyards, with walls on both sides. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat her again.

The third beating event of the donkey occurred when the Angel of the Lord blocked the narrow road the donkey was on so that it had no option but to buckle under Balaam who became angry and beat it the third time, according to Numbers 22:26–27:

26 Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff.

After this third event of beating the donkey, something significant or unique happened, in that a donkey spoke to the rebellious Balaam, as narrated in Numbers 22:28:

Then the LORD opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

Another example of something significant or unique occurring in sequence of three concerns the prayer of the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane that occurred three times as narrated in Mark 14:32–42:

³²They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ³⁴“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” ³⁵Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” ³⁷Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? ³⁸Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” ³⁹Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. ⁴⁰When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. ⁴¹Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴²Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

It was after Jesus prayed the third time and returned to His disciples that we read of His betrayal and arrest in Mark 14:43–46:

⁴³Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders. ⁴⁴Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” ⁴⁵Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. ⁴⁶The men seized Jesus and arrested him.

These two examples further indicate that three consecutive occurrences of an event would generate an expectation in the reader that a new and significant turn of events is about to take place in a narrative.

There is more to the significance of an event or an episode occurring three times in Scripture. An episode that occurs three times also conveys a sense of completeness or thoroughness to the episode itself. Hence, when an event happens three times over, the reality of that event is emphasized. This is illustrated in Peter’s denial of the Lord. His first denial occurred when a slave girl identified him as being with Jesus, according to Luke 22:56–57:

⁵⁶A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” ⁵⁷But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.

A second denial of Peter occurred when someone later identified him as one of the disciples, as stated in Luke 22:58:

A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied.

Peter’s third denial of the Lord Jesus came an hour later, according to Luke 22:59–60:

⁵⁹About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” ⁶⁰Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.

It was after this third denial that the reality of Peter’s denial sunk in or gained emphasis, as we can gather from what he did next in Luke 22:61–62:

⁶¹The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” ⁶²And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Therefore, when an event occurs three times in the Scripture it may emphasize the reality of the event. This fact is demonstrated by the assertion of Jesus appearing to His disciples a third time following His resurrection, as stated in John 21:14:

This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

This declaration emphasized the reality of resurrection of Jesus Christ. The truth that an event that occurs three times in the Scripture may emphasize the reality of the event is also evident in the Lord Jesus’ interaction with Peter after His resurrection when He appeared to His disciples the third time. The Lord gave instruction to Peter three times as recorded in John 21:15–17:

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” ¹⁷The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

There are three questions and instructions involved in this passage of John 21. The first question of the Lord to Peter is given in verse 15 Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these? The question is given a second time in verse 16 in a slightly different form Simon son of John, do you truly love me? The same form of the question used a second time is also used in the question the third time in verse 17. Peter was hurt because the Lord asked him the question a third time but that had the impact of causing Peter to recognize the emphasis of the Lord concerning the importance of loving Him. It is this love for Him that would cause Peter to carry out the instruction of the Lord to him regarding the church. The instruction is also given three times although with slight variations. The first time the instruction is given is in verse 15 Feed my lambs. The second time the instruction is issued is in verse 16 Take care of my sheep. The third time the instruction is given is in verse 17 Feed my sheep. Although the instruction is given using varying words, the message is the same, which is that Peter should take care of the church through teaching of the word of God. In effect, the Lord emphasized that the most important function of Peter was to instruct the church as that is also the most important function of any pastor or overseer of a local church of Christ. That aside, the fact that the Lord instructed Peter three times also means that that was His way of giving him full assurance that he had been fully restored following his denial of the Savior. For, if he were not fully restored, he would not have been commanded to carry out the important function of caring for the church of Christ. So, we see the importance of three consecutive events in Scripture. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:27, when the apostle used three occurrences to limit the speaking in tongues during worship, its significance is that the apostle expects another worship activity to take place. In other words, a worship service should not be dominated by speaking in tongues in Corinth or in any local church for that matter. Hence, any worship service that involves more than three individuals speaking in tongues violates the instruction of Scripture. By the way, the restriction the apostle stated regarding the speaking in tongues implies that speaking in tongues is an activity that is under the control of the one who speaks as the apostle later stated regarding the exercise of the gift of prophecy.

The apostle not only limited the usage of tongues in a worship session, but he also indicated that it should be done in an orderly manner. I am sure some of you must have observed a situation where people were having conversations with more than one person speaking at the same time or simultaneously, so it is difficult to hear what the individuals are saying. The Holy Spirit does not want that to happen during the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongues in a worship service. Consequently, He gave, through the apostle, the order involved in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:27 should speak, one at a time or more literally and in turn.

The phrase one at a time is how the translators of the NIV rendered a Greek phrase consisting of two words. The first is a Greek word (ana) that as a preposition is used as a marker of distributive relations with the meaning “each” as it is used to describe the seating arrangements of the crowd that the Lord Jesus fed with five loaves of bread and two fish as we read in Luke 9:14:

(About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

The word may mean “between” as Apostle Paul used it to rebuke the Corinthians for failing to settle disputes between believers so that believers went before unbelievers in adjudicating their disputes as we read in 1 Corinthians 6:5:

I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?

The second word is a Greek word (meros) that has two major meanings. The word may mean “part” in contrast to the whole as Apostle Paul used it to describe members of the body of Christ in Ephesians 4:16:

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

The word may mean “share” of or in something as the word is used to refer to the warning of the eternal punishment of those who reject the prophetic message of the book of Revelation, and by implication, the rejection of the gospel message, presented in terms of being excluded from participating in the fruit of the tree of life in the holy city as we read in Revelation 22:19:

And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

When the two Greek words are used together, as in our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:27, the phrase, according to standard Greek English lexicon (BDAG), may literally be translated up to a part or according to a part and so has the sense of “successively,” that is, “following in sequence,” “in turn.” Thus, the apostle indicated that speaking in tongue should be done sequentially or in turn. In effect, only one person is permitted to speak in tongues at a given time during a worship service. When that person finishes then another person would follow so as to maintain order in worship service.

It is true that the speaking in tongues should be carried out sequentially or in turn, but the apostle gives a condition that must be met for the activity of speaking in tongues to be continued in a local church. The condition is that once the first person speaks in tongues then what the person says must be interpreted for the benefit of the people that are assembled for worship. It is this condition that is meant in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 14:27 and someone must interpret.

The word someone indicates that the interpreter is another person other than the one speaking in tongues. Although some contend that it is the same person that speaks in tongues that should interpret what is said but there is no clear support for this position. It is better to understand that the apostle meant other than the speaker of tongues since such interpretation would imply that the same person who speaks in tongue must possess the gift of interpretation. While it is possible for a person to have both gifts but that is not the situation involved in our verse. The context of implying that a person could have both gifts is different from our specific context. Sure, the apostle had implied that a person could have both gifts in 1 Corinthians 14:5:

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.

In verse 5, the apostle compares two individuals but that is not the case in verse 27 where the apostle stated, and someone must interpret and so verse 5 should not be used to interpret verse 27.

The word “interpret” is translated from a Greek word (diermēneuō) that means “to translate from one language to another” as it is used in connection with the woman Apostle Peter raised from the dead as recorded in Acts 9:36:

In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor.

The word may mean “to explain (that is, to clarify something so as to make it understandable), interpret” as the word is used to describe the Lord Jesus explaining the Scripture to His disciples after His resurrection as we read in Luke 24:27:

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:27, it means to “translate” in the sense of to translate from one language to another. So, the requirement for translating what is uttered in tongues by one person before another exercises the gift of tongues implies that two gifts will function one after the other: the gift of speaking in tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues.

The Holy Spirit continues through the apostle to provide guidance to the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongues in that he restricted its exercise without the gift of interpretation of tongues. In effect, if the first person speaks in tongue but no one translates or interprets what the individual says so others would understand, the person should stop as that is the instruction given in 1 Corinthians 14:28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church. The translators of the NIV did not translate a Greek particle used in the Greek text that is translated “but” in this verse in most of our English versions.

The word “but” that appears in majority of our English versions in verse 28 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 the marker may be left untranslated. Although it is often translated “but” in the English when there is a perceived contrast between two clauses, but 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 indicate transition to something new or to resume a discourse after an interruption. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:28, it is used either to indicate that the apostle is continuing with the thought expressed in verse 27 in which case it may not be translated as done in the NIV or it is used to contrast between what is stated in verse 28 and that of verse 27 and so may be translated “but” as in majority of our English versions. It is probably that the apostle continued his thought started in verse 27 with a clause in verse 28 that contrasts what he stated in verse 27.

The apostle assumes that it is possible that in a given worship session that there may not be one with the gift of interpretation of tongues as implied in the word “if.” This is because the word “if” the apostle used in the clause If there is no interpreter is translated from a Greek particle (ean) that may be used as a maker of condition of a reduced likelihood of occurrence of an activity referenced with the meaning “if.” It can also mean “when” as a marker of point of time which is somewhat conditional and simultaneous with another point of time. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:28, the apostle used it to describe something that could probably take place which if it occurs leads to the instruction the apostle gave.

The instruction is that a person who speaks in tongue should stop as in the instruction of 1 Corinthians 14:28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church. The clause If there is no interpreter raises a question as to how the church is to determine that there is no interpreter. There is no direct indicator of how to determine that there is no interpreter or translator, but it seems that the audience or the speaker will depend on experience with translation or interpretation from one language to another. You see, if a person speaks a language that is to be translated by another for the benefit of the audience, the act of translating is such that the translator would translate almost immediately a sentence or a thought that the one speaking in a foreign language conveys. It is not easy to translate one language to another when a person is speaking. It requires that the speaker in a foreign language should know when to stop a sentence or a thought so that the translator would translate what was said, otherwise, the speaker would not be easy to follow. I mean if the original speaker in a foreign language goes on for a while before giving the translator opportunity to translate what the individual uttered, much of what is said would not be translated. This being the case, the speaker in tongues would have to pause after uttering some sentences to see if there is someone that gets up to translate what is said. If no one gets up to interpret a sentence or two, the one speaking in tongues would realize that there is no one with the gift of interpretation of tongues and so should stop. The explanation we gave is one that makes sense for if no one gets up almost immediately to translate what the speaker in tongues says then it is possible that the person speaking in tongues may continue to utter things the audience do not understand for some extended period when the individual might have completely finished saying whatever the individual uttered in tongues.

Anyway, we contend that the apostle probably meant that after two or three sentences from the one with the gift of tongues and there is no one who gets up to translate, the local church should implement what is given in the instruction of 1 Corinthians 14:28 the speaker should keep quiet or more literally let him be silent in church. The expression “keep quiet” of the NIV is translated from the Greek word (sigaō) that has two general meanings. The first meaning is “to be silent” in the sense of to say nothing as the word is used to describe the response of the church to the report by Paul and Barnabas regarding what God did during their missionary trip to Gentiles as we read in Acts 15:12:

The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

Under this first meaning, the word could mean “to stop speaking” as an instruction to someone already talking as the word is used by the crowd to demand that a blind man that shouted to Jesus should stop it as we read in Luke 18:39:

Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

A second general meaning is to keep something from being known, that is, “to keep secret, hide” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to describe God’s secret that was hidden in the past but revealed through the preaching of the gospel as we read in Romans 16:25:

Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past.

In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:28, the word has the sense of “to be silent” so that no sound comes from the one who is silent. The idea of not making any sound is important in the meaning of the Greek word the apostle used because of the alternative to speaking in tongues the Holy Spirit gave through Apostle Paul that we will get to later.

Meanwhile, we should recognize that the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul is not concerned with private use of tongues in a person’s prayer at home. Instead, it is the use of the gift of tongues in a public worship of believers that is the concern as indicated by the phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:28 in the church. The word “church” is translated from a Greek word (ekklēsia) that may refer to a group of citizens assembled for socio-political activities and so means “assembly, gathering.” The word is used predominantly in Scripture to refer to people with shared belief and so the word is often given the meaning “church” in our English Bibles. However, the meaning “church” is used in different ways in relation to believers. We have in the past examined the different ways the word is used in our Scripture. For example, on the one hand, our Greek word translated “church” is used to designate the totality of believers in Christ, living and meeting in a specific locality or larger geographical area, but not necessarily limited to one meeting place. On the other hand, our Greek word translated “church” is used to designate the global community of believers or the whole body of those who have believed in Christ regardless of where they are located. In verse 28 that we are considering, the Greek word is used in the sense of a local assembly of believers in Christ so “church” in our passage refers to believers in the local church in Corinth. By application, the word “church” refers to any assembly of believers in Christ in a given locale.

Be that as it may, the alternative to not speaking in tongues when there is no one with the gift of interpretation to tongues is that the one with the gift of tongues should resort to private use of the tongue in a manner that does not draw the attention of others as we read in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 14:28 and speak to himself and God. We say that this clause provides an alternative to not speaking in tongue when there is no one with the gift of interpretation present in the worship assembly of believers because of the beginning word of the clause. The word “and” is translated from a Greek particle (de) we said previously may be used to connect one clause to another, either to express contrast or simple continuation but in certain occurrences the marker may be left untranslated. We also indicated that it has several usages. One of its usages is to mark a contrast after a negative in which case it may be translated “rather” or “instead.” This is how the word is used to begin a sentence in which Apostle Paul after stating what should not happen to believers who attain spiritual maturity, states what should happen to them as we read in Ephesians 4:15:

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

Our Greek particle is translated “but” here in Ephesians 4:15 by some of our English versions while others used either the word “instead” or “rather.” Although most of our English versions used the meaning “and” to translate our Greek particle in 1 Corinthians 14:28, it is probably that the apostle meant for us to understand the clause in a contrasting manner to what preceded that it has the sense of conveying a contrast that is to be considered an alternative to speaking in tongue when there is no interpreter, only that this alternative is a contrast to speaking publicly. In any event, the alternative or what should happen when there is no interpreter of tongues is again stated in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 14:28 and speak to himself and God or more literally and let him speak to himself and to God.

The word “speak” is translated from a Greek word (laleō) that may mean “to make a sound” as with inanimate objects as it is used of thunders in Revelation 10:3:

and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke.

The sentence the seven thunders spoke may be translated the seven thunders sounded as in the NRSV. The Greek word may be used for informal communication and for formal communication, especially as it pertains to God’s word. Thus, the word may mean “to talk” as it is used to describe the interaction of Apostle Paul with Grecian Jews shortly after his conversion as we read in Acts 9:29:

The word may mean “to preach” as the word is used by Luke to describe that the Holy Spirit restricted Apostle Paul and his team from going to preach in Asia 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.

The word may mean “to tell” as Apostle Paul used it to describe what he was not permitted to communicate following his transport to the third heaven as we read in 2 Corinthians 12:4:

was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.

The word may mean “to proclaim” as the word is used by Apostle Paul in stating the content of his prayer request to the Colossians as we read in Colossians 4:3:

And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

The word may mean “to teach” as in the charge given to Titus to carry out his duty as a pastor as we read in Titus 2:15:

These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:28, the word has the sense of “to speak,” that is, “to express oneself in speech.”

The meaning of the Greek word that is translated “to speak” in the verbal phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:28 speak to himself and God or literally speak to himself and to God raises the question of what the apostle meant. For if speaking involves expressing oneself in speech, the issue becomes how a person could express self without others hearing what the person said. Because it is difficult to speak without others hearing, the apostle must have meant that the tongues should be internalized so that the person is only speaking to God. This interpretation is supported by the word “and” used in the verbal phrase speak to himself and God. The word “and” is translated from a Greek conjunction (kai) that is often translated “and” in our English versions. However, the Greek conjunction has several other usages. For example, it may be used to mark an explanation so that what follows explains what goes before it, leading to the translation “that is, namely, and so.” In our verse, the apostle probably used it in this sense. Thus, the phrase and God explains what it is meant that a person speaks to self in tongue. This interpretation means that we could translate the verbal phrase speak to himself and God as speak to himself, that is, to God. Hence, the apostle’s alternative to being silent if there is no interpreter of tongues is for the person to internalize the tongues so that the person is speaking to God since the apostle had already indicated that tongues not interpreted are directed to God as we read in 1 Corinthians 14:2:

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.

In any event, the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul is that speaking in tongues should be limited to three individuals in any worship service if there are interpreters of the tongues uttered. This speaking should be orderly with only one person speaking at a time. Of course, the instruction of the apostle is tantamount to that there is no need for the exercise of the gift of speaking in tongues if there is no one with gift of interpretation in the worship service. This directive concerns only public but not private worship in which a believer with the gift of speaking in tongues could be praying to God in tongues. With the instruction of verse 28, the apostle ends consideration of the use of tongues although he later in verse 39 issued a command about tongues but there was no more discussion on the subject. Anyway, we end our study today by reminding you of the message of 1 Corinthians 14:27-33a which is: All worship activities in a local church should be orderly.

1 Ryken, L., Wilhoit, J., Longman, T., Duriez, C., Penney, D., & Reid, D. G. (2000). In Dictionary of biblical imagery (electronic ed., p. 866). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.