1 Corinthians 14:9 BSB

1 Corinthians 14:9

So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

So also ye, unless ye utter by the tongue speech easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye will be speaking into the air.

KJV

So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.

⋯

Commentary

3 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

So likewise ye ... - To apply the case. If you use a foreign language, how shall it be known what is said, or of what use will it be, unless it is made intelligible by interpretation? Utter by the tongue - Unless you speak. Words easy to be understood - Significant words (margin), words to which your auditors are accustomed. For ye shall speak into the air - You will not speak so as to be understood; and it will be just the same as if no one was present, and you spoke to the air.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Unless ye utter by the tongue - Which is miraculously given you. Words easy to be understood - By your hearers. Ye will speak to the air - A proverbial expression.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

So . . . ye--who have life; as opposed to "things without life" (1Co 14:7). by the tongue--the language which ye speak in. ye shall speak--Ye will be speaking into the air, that is, in vain (1Co 9:26).

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
οὕτως	houtōs	So	G3779 →
καὶ	kai	also	G2532 →
ὑμεῖς	humeis	you yourselves	G4771 →
διὰ	dia	with	G1223 →
τῆς	tēs	the	G3588 →
γλώσσης	glōssēs	tongue	G1100 →
ἐὰν	ean	only	G1437 →
μὴ	mē	unless	G3361 →
εὔσημον	eusēmon	intelligible	G2154 →
λόγον	logon	speech	G3056 →
δῶτε,	dōte	you shall give,	G1325 →
πῶς	pōs	how	G4459 →
γνωσθήσεται	gnōsthēsetai	will it be known	G1097 →
τὸ	to	what [is]	G3588 →
λαλούμενον;	laloumenon	being spoken?	G2980 →
ἔσεσθε	esesthe	You will be	G1510 →
γὰρ	gar	for	G1063 →
εἰς	eis	into	G1519 →
ἀέρα	aera	[the] air	G109 →
λαλοῦντες.	lalountes	speaking.	G2980 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk5

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Corinthians 9:26
Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air.
leads to
- 2 Timothy 2:5
  Likewise, a competitor does not receive the crown unless he competes according to the rules.
- 2 Peter 1:10
  Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,
- Philippians 1:21
  For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
- Colossians 1:29
  To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me.
- 2 Timothy 1:12
  For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have…

Featured studies on this passage

On 1 Corinthians 14:9

The Gifts of the Spirit — 1 Corinthians 12–14

Open the study →