The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 14:13 Explained

1 Corinthians 14:13

KJV: Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.

YLT: wherefore he who is speaking in an unknown tongue -- let him pray that he may interpret;

Darby: Wherefore let him that speaks with a tongue pray that he may interpret.

ASV: Wherefore let him that speaketh in a tongue pray that he may interpret.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Wherefore  let him that speaketh  in an [unknown] tongue  pray  that  he may interpret. 

What does 1 Corinthians 14:13 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Corinthian who already had the gift of tongues should ask the Lord for the ability to interpret his or her utterances so the whole church could benefit from them (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:5). Note that Paul did not say that they should abandon this gift, but their practice of it needed correcting.

Context Summary

1 Corinthians 14:13-25 - Understanding Promotes Edifying
The Apostle here gives two practical directions, in order to restore the rule of the understanding above the babble of incoherent sounds, which was confusing the Corinthian church.
The first was that worship should be conducted in a form that the assembled congregation could understand. To utter prayer or thanksgiving to which the audience could give no assent; to utter sounds which were meaningless, was inconsistent with the true nature of Christian worship. It was therefore from this chapter that the Reformers drew their arguments against the practice of conducting the services of the Church in Latin. The second was that instruction was a most necessary part of worship, 1 Corinthians 14:19.
The effect of prophesying, that is, preaching, is set forth very forcibly and beautifully in the closing verses of our reading. We must always have in mind the unbelieving and the unlearned. If he hears the solemn voice of God speaking through human lips to his conscience, stirring its depths, moving it to repentance and faith, he will bear speedy testimony to the truth of what he has heard. We must seek to have in our assemblies the convincing power of God's Word, accompanied by the corroborating witness of the unhindered Spirit. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 14

1  Prophecy is commended,
2  and preferred before speaking in tongues,
6  by a comparison drawn from musical instruments
12  Both must be referred to edification,
22  as to their true and proper end
26  The true use of each is taught,
27  and the abuse rebuked
34  Women in the churches

Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 14:13

Let him pray that he may interpret [προσευχεστω ινα διερμηνευηι]
Else he had better cease talking in a tongue. [source]
Pray that he may interpret [προσευχέσθω ἵνα διερμηνεύῃ]
Not, pray for the gift of interpretation, but use his unknown tongue in prayer, which, above all other spiritual gifts, would minister to the power of interpreting. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 14:13

1 Corinthians 12:10 Divers kinds of tongues [γένη γλωσσῶν]
I. Passages Relating to the Gift of Tongues. Mark 16:17; Acts href="/desk/?q=ac+10:46&sr=1">Acts 10:46; Acts 19:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 Corinthians 12:28; Acts 2:16-180; 14. Possibly Ephesians 5:18; Acts 10:44-46. II. Terms Employed. New tongues (1 Corinthians 14:26-28,): other or different tongues ( ἕτεραι , Acts 2:4): kinds ( γένη ) of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:10): simply tongues or tongue ( γλῶσσαι γλῶσσα , Acts href="/desk/?q=ac+2:4&sr=1">Acts 2:4; 1 Corinthians 13:1; Acts 19:6; 1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:13, 1 Corinthians 14:14, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:27): to pray in a tongue ( προσεύχεσθαι γλώσσῃ , 1 Corinthians 14:14, 1 Corinthians 14:15), equivalent to praying in the spirit as distinguished from praying with the understanding: tongues of men and angels (1 Corinthians 13:1). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
III. Recorded Facts in the New Testament. (1.) The first recorded bestowment of the gift was at Pentecost (Acts href="/desk/?q=ac+10:44-46&sr=1">1 Peter 4:11. (3.) Certain disciples at Ephesus, who received the Holy Spirit in the laying on of Paul's hands, spake with tongues and prophesied, Acts 19:6. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
IV. Meaning of the Term “Tongue.” The various explanations are: the tongue alone, inarticulately: rare, provincial, poetic, or archaic words: language or dialect. The last is the correct definition. It does not necessarily mean any of the known languages of men, but may mean the speaker's own tongue, shaped in a peculiar manner by the Spirit's influence; or an entirely new spiritual language. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
V. Nature of the Gift in the Corinthian Church. (1.) The gift itself was identical with that at Pentecost, at Caesarea, and at Ephesus, but differed in its manifestations, in that it required an interpreter. 1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 Corinthians 12:30; 1 Corinthians 14:5, 1 Corinthians 14:13, 1 Corinthians 14:26, 1 Corinthians 14:27. (2.) It was closely connected with prophesying: 1 Corinthians 14:1-6, 1 Corinthians 14:22, 1 Corinthians 14:25; 1711691567_13; Acts 19:6. Compare 1 Thessalonians 5:19, 1 Thessalonians 5:20. It was distinguished from prophesying as an inferior gift, 1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:5; and as consisting in expressions of praise or devotion rather than of exhortation, warning, or prediction, 1 Corinthians 14:14-16. (3.) It was an ecstatic utterance, unintelligible to the hearers, and requiring interpretation, or a corresponding ecstatic condition on the part of the hearer in order to understand it. It was not for the edification of the hearer but of the speaker, and even the speaker did not always understand it, 1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:19. It therefore impressed unchristian bystanders as a barbarous utterance, the effect of madness or drunkenness, Acts 2:13, Acts 2:15; 1 Corinthians 14:11, 1 Corinthians 14:23. Hence it is distinguished from the utterance of the understanding, 1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:14-16, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:27. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
VI. Paul's Estimate of the Gift. He himself was a master of the gift (1 Corinthians 14:18), but he assigned it an inferior position (1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:5), and distinctly gave prophesying and speaking with the understanding the preference (1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:3, 1 Corinthians 14:5, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:22). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
VII. Results and Permanence. Being recognized distinctly as a gift of the Spirit, it must be inferred that it contributed in some way to the edification of the Church; but it led to occasional disorderly outbreaks (1 Corinthians 14:9, 1 Corinthians 14:11, 1 Corinthians 14:17, 1 Corinthians 14:20-23, Mark 16:17 1 Corinthians 14:33, 1 Corinthians 14:40). As a fact it soon passed away from the Church. It is not mentioned in the Catholic or Pastoral Epistles. A few allusions to it occur in the writings of the fathers of the second century. Ecstatic conditions and manifestations marked the Montanists at the close of the second century, and an account of such a case, in which a woman was the subject, is given by Tertullian. Similar phenomena have emerged at intervals in various sects, at times of great religious excitement, as among the Camisards in France, the early Quakers and Methodists, and especially the Irvingites. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

1 Corinthians 12:10 Prophecy [προπητεια]
Late word from προπητης — prophētēs and προπημι — prophēmi to speak forth. Common in papyri. This gift Paul will praise most (chapter 1 Corinthians 14). Not always prediction, but a speaking forth of God‘s message under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Discernings of spirits (διακρισεις πνευματων — diakriseis pneumatōn). Διακρισις — Diakrisis is old word from διακρινω — diakrinō (see note on 1 Corinthians 11:29) and in N.T. only here; Romans 14:1; Hebrews 5:14. A most needed gift to tell whether the gifts were really of the Holy Spirit and supernatural (cf. so-called “gifts” today) or merely strange though natural or even diabolical (1 Timothy 4:1; 1 John 4:1.). Divers kinds of tongues No word for “divers” in the Greek. There has arisen a great deal of confusion concerning the gift of tongues as found in Corinth. They prided themselves chiefly on this gift which had become a source of confusion and disorder. There were varieties (kinds, γενη — genē) in this gift, but the gift was essentially an ecstatic utterance of highly wrought emotion that edified the speaker (1 Corinthians 14:4) and was intelligible to God (1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:28). It was not always true that the speaker in tongues could make clear what he had said to those who did not know the tongue (1 Corinthians 14:13): It was not mere gibberish or jargon like the modern “tongues,” but in a real language that could be understood by one familiar with that tongue as was seen on the great Day of Pentecost when people who spoke different languages were present. In Corinth, where no such variety of people existed, it required an interpreter to explain the tongue to those who knew it not. Hence Paul placed this gift lowest of all. It created wonder, but did little real good. This is the error of the Irvingites and others who have tried to reproduce this early gift of the Holy Spirit which was clearly for a special emergency and which was not designed to help spread the gospel among men. See notes on Acts 2:13-21; notes on Acts Acts 10:44-46; and note on Acts 19:6. The interpretation of tongues (ερμηνεια γλωσσων — hermēneia glōssōn). Old word, here only and 1 Corinthians 14:26 in N.T., from ερμηνευω — hermēneuō from ερμης — Hermēs (the god of speech). Cf. on διερμηνευω — diermēneuō in Luke 24:27; Acts 9:36. In case there was no one present who understood the particular tongue it required a special gift of the Spirit to some one to interpret it if any one was to receive benefit from it. [source]
1 Corinthians 12:10 Divers kinds of tongues [γενη γλωσσων]
No word for “divers” in the Greek. There has arisen a great deal of confusion concerning the gift of tongues as found in Corinth. They prided themselves chiefly on this gift which had become a source of confusion and disorder. There were varieties (kinds, γενη — genē) in this gift, but the gift was essentially an ecstatic utterance of highly wrought emotion that edified the speaker (1 Corinthians 14:4) and was intelligible to God (1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:28). It was not always true that the speaker in tongues could make clear what he had said to those who did not know the tongue (1 Corinthians 14:13): It was not mere gibberish or jargon like the modern “tongues,” but in a real language that could be understood by one familiar with that tongue as was seen on the great Day of Pentecost when people who spoke different languages were present. In Corinth, where no such variety of people existed, it required an interpreter to explain the tongue to those who knew it not. Hence Paul placed this gift lowest of all. It created wonder, but did little real good. This is the error of the Irvingites and others who have tried to reproduce this early gift of the Holy Spirit which was clearly for a special emergency and which was not designed to help spread the gospel among men. See notes on Acts 2:13-21; notes on Acts Acts 10:44-46; and note on Acts 19:6. The interpretation of tongues (ερμηνεια γλωσσων — hermēneia glōssōn). Old word, here only and 1 Corinthians 14:26 in N.T., from ερμηνευω — hermēneuō from ερμης — Hermēs (the god of speech). Cf. on διερμηνευω — diermēneuō in Luke 24:27; Acts 9:36. In case there was no one present who understood the particular tongue it required a special gift of the Spirit to some one to interpret it if any one was to receive benefit from it. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 14:13 mean?

Therefore the [one] speaking in a tongue let him pray that he might interpret
Διὸ λαλῶν γλώσσῃ προσευχέσθω ἵνα διερμηνεύῃ

  the  [one] 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
λαλῶν  speaking 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀπολαλέω 
Sense: to utter a voice or emit a sound.
γλώσσῃ  in  a  tongue 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: γλῶσσα  
Sense: the tongue, a member of the body, an organ of speech. 2 a tongue.
προσευχέσθω  let  him  pray 
Parse: Verb, Present Imperative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: προσεύχομαι  
Sense: to offer prayers, to pray.
ἵνα  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
διερμηνεύῃ  he  might  interpret 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: διερμηνεύω  
Sense: to unfold the meaning of what is said, explain, expound.