1 Corinthians 14

Paul tells the Corinthians how to use spiritual gifts when they gather. Love comes first, and the test of every gift is whether it builds up the whole church. Speaking in tongues without interpretation helps only the speaker, so Paul urges clear, understandable words and an orderly meeting.

1 Corinthians 14:1

Chapter 13 ends with love, and Paul now builds on it. Love is the aim, and gifts are the tools it uses. Paul still wants believers to desire the gifts, and prophecy above all, because it serves others most directly.

BSA: Earnestly pursue (“with diligence and passion”): Love is something to chase hard, not something to wait for.

Greek: διώκετε (diōkete, G1377) — “pursue, chase.” This is the word for a hunter chasing prey or a runner after a prize. Love is to be hunted down with energy.

See also: 1 Corinthians 13:13.

1 Corinthians 14:2

Someone speaking in a tongue is speaking to God, not to the people listening. No one present grasps it. Paul does not deny it is real, because by the Spirit the speaker utters hidden things. But a mystery nobody understands cannot help the room.

BSA: mysteries (“secret truths”): The speech holds things hidden from listeners, even though God understands it fully.

1 Corinthians 14:3

Prophecy is spoken to people, and it does three things for them. It builds them up, urges them forward, and consoles them. This is God’s message made plain and aimed at real needs in the congregation.

BSA: edification (“spiritual growth, building up”): The picture is a building going up, with believers made stronger stone by stone. comfort (“consolation, solace”): Prophecy also brings tenderness to the hurting, not only challenge.

1 Corinthians 14:4

A tongue spoken privately strengthens the one who speaks. Prophecy strengthens the whole assembly. Paul is not mocking personal edification, but in a gathering of believers, the good of the many outweighs the good of one.

BSA: church (“the assembly, the community of believers”): The church is a gathered people, so what happens in the meeting should serve all of them.

Greek: οἰκοδομεῖ (oikodomei, G3618) — “builds up, constructs a house.” The word comes from building a house. Paul keeps asking whether a thing adds to the structure of the church.

1 Corinthians 14:5

Paul does not look down on tongues, since he wishes all spoke them. But he values prophecy more. A tongue becomes as useful as prophecy when it is interpreted, because then everyone understands and is built up.

BSA: interprets (“explains, translates”): Interpretation turns a private utterance into something the whole church can share.

1 Corinthians 14:6

Paul uses himself as an example. If he came to Corinth and only spoke in tongues, they would gain nothing. People are helped when they receive something they can understand: a word from God, knowledge, a prophecy, or teaching.

BSA: benefit (“help, profit”): Paul’s test is practical: does it actually do the listeners good?

1 Corinthians 14:7-8

Paul gives two pictures from music and war. A flute or harp that plays muddled notes gives no tune. A trumpet that blows an unclear call leaves soldiers not knowing whether to advance or retreat. Sound without clarity accomplishes nothing.

BSA: muffled (“unclear, uncertain”): A signal that cannot be read is as good as no signal.

1 Corinthians 14:9

Paul applies the pictures. Words nobody can follow are wasted. The speaker may be sincere, but the message goes nowhere. Paul’s phrase “speaking into the air” is a vivid way to say the words land on no one.

BSA: intelligible (“easy to understand, clear”): Words are given so they can be understood. Clarity is part of their purpose.

1 Corinthians 14:10-11

The world is full of languages, and each carries real meaning to those who know it. Yet to a person who does not know it, the speaker is a stranger. Without understanding, speaker and listener cannot connect.

BSA: foreigner (“barbarian, stranger”): To Greeks, a barbarian was someone whose speech sounded like meaningless noise, so he was an outsider.

Greek: βάρβαρος (barbaros, G915) — “foreigner, one whose speech is unintelligible.” The word imitates the sound of foreign speech, like “bar-bar.” It names someone you cannot understand.

1 Corinthians 14:12

The Corinthians were eager for spiritual gifts, and Paul does not scold that. He redirects the eagerness. Aim to excel in the gifts that build up the whole church, rather than in those that bring attention to yourself.

BSA: eager (“zealous, desiring strongly”): Their zeal was good, but it needed a better target. build up (“edify, construct”): The measure of a gift is what it constructs in others.

1 Corinthians 14:13

Someone who speaks in a tongue in the meeting should pray for the ability to interpret. That way the gift stops being a private matter and becomes a blessing the whole church can share.

BSA: interpret (“to explain, to translate thoroughly”): The aim is full, clear explanation so others are not left in the dark.

1 Corinthians 14:14

When Paul prays in a tongue, his spirit is truly praying to God. But his understanding does not take part, and it bears no fruit for his own mind or for others. Real prayer is happening, yet something is missing.

BSA: mind (“intellect, understanding”): Paul does not want the thinking part of a person left out of worship. unfruitful (“barren, without spiritual fruit”): Without understanding, the prayer yields nothing others can see or share in.

Greek: νοῦς (nous, G3563) — “mind, understanding.” This is the thinking, reasoning part of a person. Paul says it sits idle when he prays in a tongue.

1 Corinthians 14:15

Paul’s answer is not to choose one over the other. He will pray and sing with his spirit, and also with his mind. Whole-person worship joins deep devotion with clear understanding.

BSA: sing (“praise, play a stringed instrument”): The word carries the idea of praise in song, often with music, so worship here is joyful and expressive.

Greek: ψαλῶ (psalō, G5567) — “I will sing praise.” The word originally meant plucking a stringed instrument, and it grew into singing psalms in praise to God.

1 Corinthians 14:16-17

If you bless God in a tongue that others cannot follow, an outsider cannot say a heartfelt “Amen.” Your thanks may be fine, but the listener goes away without being helped. Worship in the gathering is meant to be shared.

BSA: uninstructed (“uneducated or untrained”): This describes a person who is not yet familiar with what is going on, such as a newcomer. Amen (“so be it, in agreement”): Amen is the congregation’s shared agreement, and it needs understanding to be sincere.

See also: Deuteronomy 27:15.

1 Corinthians 14:18-19

Paul speaks in tongues more than any of them, so he is no critic of the gift. Yet in church he prefers five words that people can understand over ten thousand they cannot. His concern is always to teach others.

BSA: instruct (“teach, guide”): The purpose of speaking in church is to teach, so people actually learn.

Greek: κατηχήσω (katēchēsō, G2727) — “to instruct, to teach by word of mouth.” The word gives us “catechism.” It means teaching so that the truth truly sinks in.

1 Corinthians 14:20

Paul tells them to grow up in their thinking. In regard to evil they should be like babies, who know nothing of malice. But in understanding they should be mature. Innocence about evil and maturity in judgment belong together.

BSA: mature (“men, perfect, complete”): The word means fully grown, so Paul wants adult thinking, not childish showiness.

See also: Matthew 18:3; Romans 16:19.

1 Corinthians 14:21

Paul quotes from Isaiah, here called the Law in a broad sense. God once spoke to Israel through foreign-speaking invaders, and still the people did not listen. Strange speech did not turn their hearts.

See also: Isaiah 28:11-12.

1 Corinthians 14:22

Tongues work as a sign that points to God’s power, and in this context they are directed at unbelievers. Yet without interpretation they may only baffle them, as verse 23 shows. Prophecy mainly serves believers by building them up, though verse 24 shows it can reach outsiders too.

BSA: sign (“a token, an indication of God’s presence”): A sign points beyond itself, but it still has to be understood to do its work.

1 Corinthians 14:23

If the whole church speaks in tongues at once, a visitor will think they are mad. Instead of seeing God, he sees confusion. Paul cares about how the gathering looks and sounds to someone who walks in from outside.

BSA: out of your minds (“mad, insane, beside yourselves”): Outsiders would judge the meeting as a frenzy, which would close their hearts to the gospel.

1 Corinthians 14:24-25

When clear words from God are spoken, a visitor is moved. He sees his own heart exposed, and he falls down in worship. He recognizes that God is truly present. This is what a church gathering can be.

BSA: convicted (“reproved, shown his fault”): The truth is not just heard but pressed home, so he sees himself as God sees him. secrets (“hidden, concealed thoughts”): God’s word reaches what no one else could know about the person.

See also: Hebrews 4:12; Isaiah 45:14.

1 Corinthians 14:26

Paul pictures a lively meeting where many people bring something: a song, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, an interpretation. All of it is welcome. But the rule over everything is that it must build up the church.

BSA: build up (“edify, strengthen”): This is the single test that every contribution must pass.

1 Corinthians 14:27-28

Paul sets order for tongues. Only two or three should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If no interpreter is present, the person stays quiet in the meeting and speaks to God privately.

BSA: silent (“quiet, still”): Holding back is itself an act of love toward the others present. in turn (“one at a time, in succession”): Gifts are to be shared one after another, not all at once.

1 Corinthians 14:29

Prophets also speak in limited numbers, two or three. The others are not passive. They listen and weigh what is said. Prophecy is tested and not simply swallowed, so the church is protected from error.

BSA: weigh carefully (“judge, discern”): Believers are expected to test what they hear against what God has already revealed.

Greek: διακρινέτωσαν (diakrinetōsan, G1252) — “let them discern, sift, judge.” The word means to separate one thing from another, like sorting good from bad. Listeners are to examine, not just accept.

See also: 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21; 1 John 4:1.

1 Corinthians 14:30-31

If God shows something to a person sitting in the audience, the speaker gives way. Paul expects everyone to have a turn, so that all may learn and be encouraged. Good order leaves room for many voices.

BSA: encouraged (“comforted, exhorted, strengthened”): The goal of prophecy is to put courage and strength into people.

1 Corinthians 14:32-33

A prophet is never swept away so that he cannot stop. He can hold back until his turn. Paul bases this on God’s own character. God brings peace, not confusion, and this is true in every church.

BSA: disorder (“confusion, tumult, or chaos”): God is not the author of tumult, so a meeting that is chaotic does not reflect him. peace (“harmony, prosperity, or freedom from war”): Peace here means wholeness and calm, a meeting where things fit together.

Greek: ἀκαταστασίας (akatastasias, G181) — “disorder, instability, tumult.” The word describes things out of place or out of control. It is the opposite of settled peace.

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

Paul says women should be silent in the churches and ask their husbands at home. Christians have understood this differently. Some see a ban on women speaking, and others see a limit on disruptive questions during the weighing of prophecies. Elsewhere Paul assumes women pray and prophesy aloud, as in 1 Corinthians 11:5.

BSA: submission (“obedience, subjection”): Paul asks for a respectful, ordered attitude within the gathering.

See also: 1 Corinthians 11:5; 1 Timothy 2:11-12.

1 Corinthians 14:36

Paul asks two sharp questions. Did God’s word start with Corinth, or did it arrive only to them? The point is humility. They are part of a wider family of churches and should not invent their own rules.

BSA: word (“Logos, divine message”): God’s message has a source and a reach far beyond Corinth.

1 Corinthians 14:37-38

Anyone who claims to be spiritual should recognize that Paul’s instructions come from the Lord. Someone who disregards them will not be recognized. Real spirituality shows itself by agreeing with God’s word, not by claiming special insight.

BSA: spiritual (“having a non-carnal, supernatural nature”): Truly spiritual people are known by how they respond to God’s command. ignores (“is without knowledge of, disregards”): Refusing to know the truth leads to being left unknown.

1 Corinthians 14:39-40

Paul sums up. Desire prophecy, do not forbid tongues, and keep everything fitting and in order. He wants neither suppressed gifts nor chaos, but worship in which God’s gifts are used with love and clarity.

BSA: orderly (“by order, in order”): The word suggests everything having its right place, like soldiers in rank.

Greek: τάξιν (taxin, G5010) — “order, arrangement.” The word is used of an orderly arrangement, such as ranks of an army. Paul wants the church’s meeting to be arranged with care.

See also: Colossians 2:5.