{"id":90346,"date":"2025-09-11T10:58:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=90346"},"modified":"2025-09-11T10:58:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:58:57","slug":"tongues-without-an-interpreter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/tongues-without-an-interpreter\/","title":{"rendered":"Tongues Without an Interpreter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n

The gift of being able to speak in languages that one had not previously known is called the gift of tongues. There are only five references to this: Mark 16:16-20; Acts 2; Acts 10; Acts 19; and the longest one in I Corinthians 12-14. That such was a language is seen in Acts 2, where ‘tongue’ and ‘language’ are used interchangeably in Acts 2:4, 6, 8, and 11. Such is indicated in I Corinthians 13:1 as Paul speaks of ‘tongues of men and of angels<\/em>‘ – languages of men and angels. Even in I Corinthians\u00a014, while he uses ‘tongues’ repeatedly, he then speaks of the many different languages in the world,\u00a0all\u00a0<\/strong>of which have meaning.<\/p>\n

The problem in Corinth was the misuse of such a gift of languages. They were using it even when no one could understand, and when they had no interpreter to translate the meaning of what was said. They were speaking in tongues when they came together, but they were doing so<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. many at the same time,<\/li>\n
  2. without an interpreter, and<\/li>\n
  3. to impress others with the act<\/strong>\u00a0and not with the information,<\/strong>\u00a0which would edify the congregation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    • I Corinthians 14:2 – When they<\/strong> spoke in a tongue, they spoke to God and not man, for without an interpreter, no one but God would understand. Hence, when they spoke without an interpreter, they were not speaking to man (for no one understood) but to God (for He was the only one that understood). While they spoke in such languages in front of men and to impress men, their wrongful way of doing it (without an interpreter) meant that they didn’t speak to <\/b>men at all. This is similar to Paul’s statement in I Corinthians 11 that they came together ‘not to eat the Lord’s supper<\/em>‘ (I Corinthians 11:20). They were<\/strong>, but because of the way they were doing it, it invalidated the whole thing. So here, they did speak ‘to’ men, at least to impress men, but in effect, they spoke to no man, for no one understood. Hence, speaking in a language that is not intelligible means that\n
        \n
      1. no one will know what is said, and<\/li>\n
      2. you will be ‘speaking into the air.<\/em>‘<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
      3. I Corinthians 14:4 – In what way does the act of speaking in a language that no one present can understand build up the speaker himself? It is not in knowledge and understanding. Instead, by the very experience of doing this, even though there was no knowledge or information, the speaker experienced the gift of God.<\/li>\n
      4. I Corinthians 14:5 – Prophesy is greater unless <\/b>there is an interpreter (i.e., the way they were doing it made tongues the lesser gift).<\/li>\n
      5. I Corinthians 14:6 – Thus, speaking in tongues (as they were doing it – without an interpreter) is of no benefit, but with<\/strong> an interpreter there would be revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or teaching.<\/li>\n
      6. I Corinthians 14:7-8 – Unless there is a particular sound (an identifiable and knowable sound), instruments are nothing.<\/li>\n
      7. I Corinthians 14:9 – Even so<\/strong>, tongues without an interpreter leave people without knowing what was said.<\/li>\n
      8. I Corinthians 14:10 – All languages have meaning, even languages of angels, but …<\/li>\n
      9. I Corinthians 14:11 – As with any foreign language, speaking without an interpreter is unintelligible and edifies no one.<\/li>\n
      10. I Corinthians 14:13 – Therefore, the speaker in tongues should pray that he may interpret for <\/strong>…<\/li>\n
      11. I Corinthians 14:14 – Even prayer to self<\/strong>, without understanding, leaves the mind<\/strong>\u00a0unfruitful.<\/li>\n
      12. I Corinthians 14:15 – Therefore, I will pray with the mind, understanding, in a language that I understand.<\/li>\n
      13. I Corinthians 14:17 – Thus those who hear are not <\/b>built up (edified) – unless there is an interpreter.<\/li>\n
      14. I Corinthians 14:22 – This gift was not <\/b>for the believer’s benefit, but was a sign to the unbeliever in that it showed that God was with you and producing this ability to speak in a new language.<\/li>\n
      15. I Corinthians 14:23 – But if all speak in tongues (and there is no interpreter), visitors will just think you are all crazy.<\/li>\n
      16. I Corinthians 14:26-28 – instructions are given here on the use of tongues in their assemblies: when you come together.\u00a0If<\/strong>\u00a0the gift of tongues was used, it could\u00a0only\u00a0<\/strong>be 2 or 3 per meeting,\u00a0and only<\/strong>\u00a0one at a time,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/strong>there\u00a0must<\/strong>\u00a0be an interpreter,\u00a0or\u00a0<\/strong>the tongue speakers remain quiet.<\/li>\n
      17. I Corinthians 14:32 – Not only is it implied that the person can control the use of this gift (thus fulfilling the rules that Paul taught), but as with all <\/b>gifts, the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        This was not about private prayer language that even the speaker didn’t understand. This was about languages used in the assembly that were supposed to edify the hearers, but because no one understood what was said, it didn’t. All exercises of this gift were done in public, and people did <\/b>understand what was said. In Acts 2, they knew they were “telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God<\/em>” (Acts 2:11). In Acts 10, they heard them ‘extolling God<\/em>‘ (Acts 10:46). All things are to be done unto edification (I Corinthians 14:26).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        by Hugh DeLong The gift of being able to speak in languages that one had not previously known is called the gift of tongues. There are only five references to this: Mark 16:16-20; Acts 2; Acts 10; Acts 19; and the longest one in I Corinthians 12-14. That such was a language is seen in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[142,141],"class_list":["post-90346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-speaking-in-tongues","tag-tongue-speaking"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18561,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-you-explain-prophecy-tongue-speaking-and-interpretation-a-bit-more-for-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":90346,"position":0},"title":"Could you explain prophecy, tongue-speaking, and interpretation a bit more for me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question. It has to do with I Corinthians 14. We are studying the various spiritual gifts bestowed upon the church members and how this gift was abused. The gifts we are focusing our study on is prophecy and tongues. My question, are there several versions of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41673,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-was-there-a-need-for-the-interpretation-of-tongues\/","url_meta":{"origin":90346,"position":1},"title":"Why was there a need for the interpretation of tongues?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Greetings Brother, Thank you in advance for answering my question, which is: Why did the disciples, who received the Spiritual gift of speaking in tongues by the laying on of the hands of the apostles, need interpreters when employing that gift and the apostles did not? Thank you so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18563,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/speaking-in-tongues\/","url_meta":{"origin":90346,"position":2},"title":"Speaking in Tongues","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Acts 2:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I received several questions in recent days regarding speaking in tongues \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People wanting to know what it was, what is the heavenly language, what is the unknown tongue \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But probably more than anything else, they want to know if you must have the gift of tongues\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1730,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-an-unknown-tongue\/","url_meta":{"origin":90346,"position":3},"title":"What is an unknown tongue?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 21, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is unknown tongues a heavenly language or does it mean a language not known to people but for God? Answer: The phrase \"unknown tongue\" only appears in the King James Version in six places in I Corinthians 14. If you look carefully you will notice that in all six\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16780,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/didnt-paul-say-he-could-speak-in-the-language-of-angels\/","url_meta":{"origin":90346,"position":4},"title":"Didn’t Paul say he could speak in the language of angels?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In reading\u00a0the answer to the Azusa Street revival I was confused by your stance on that revival. A lot of the people quoted kept saying the \"tongues were in gibberish\" not another language like they thought it would be. But plainly in I Corinthians 13 it plainly says I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1894,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-tongues-still-in-existence-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":90346,"position":5},"title":"Are tongues still in existence today?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are tongues still in existence today? Answer: When the gift of speaking in tongues was first mentioned in the Bible, the people found it a wonder. \"And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?\" (Acts 2:8). Hence, the proper definition\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}