1 Corinthians 14:18
in 1 Corinthians 14I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I thank God, I speak with tongues more than you all:
KJV
I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
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This verse in 1 Corinthians 14
Commentary
10 notes on this verseI speak with tongues more than ye all - He understood more languages than any of them did: and this was indispensably necessary, as he was the apostle of the Gentiles in general, and had to preach to different provinces where different dialects, if not languages, were used. In the Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, and Latin, he was undoubtedly well skilled from his education; and how many he might understand by miraculous gift we cannot tell. But, even literally understood, it is very probable that he knew more languages than any man in the Church of Corinth.
This site's exposition
I thank God that I
on 1 Corinthians 14:18-19
I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you, Paul says, removing any suspicion that his ranking of prophecy comes from lacking the gift. Verse 19 states his preference in sharp arithmetic, five coherent words to instruct others over ten thousand words in a tongue, a ratio chosen for its extremity. The two verses answer the charge that Paul disparages tongues, from the one man with every right to prefer his own gift.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Further, because he had run down the possessors of this gift, as though they had no such great thing; that he might not seem to hold them cheap, as being himself destitute of it, see what he saith: "I thank God, speaking with tongues more than ye all." And this he doth also in another place intending, namely, to take away the advantages of Judaism and to show that henceforth they are nothing, he begins by declaring that himself had been endowed with them, yea, and that in very great excess; and then he calls them "loss," thus saying, "If any man thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; as touching zeal, persecuting the Church; as touching the righteousness which is the law, found blameless." And then, having signified himself to have the advantage of all, he saith, "Howbeit what things were gain to me, those have I counted loss for Christ." So also he doth here, saying, "I speak with tongues more than ye all." Do not ye therefore glory as though ye only had the gift. For I also possess it, yea more than ye.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Here the Apostle shows that the gift of prophecy excels the gift of tongues with reasons taken on his own part. In regard to this he does two things: first, he gives thanks for the gift of tongues given him by God; secondly, he proposes …
Lest they think that he disparages this gift because he himself does not possess it, he says: I speak in tongues more than all of you.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
); not only more than any single person among you, but more than all together." It was not envy at their better furniture that made Paul depreciate what they so highly valued and so much vaunted of; he surpassed them all in this very gift of tongues, and did not vilify their gift because he had it not. This spirit of envy is too common in the world.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than you all.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He informs them that tongues were a sign for unbelievers rather than those that believe; and represents the advantage of prophecy above speaking with tongues, from the different suggestions they would give to the mind of an unbeliever coming into their assemblies,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I thank my God - Paul here shows that he did not undervalue or despise the power of speaking foreign languages. It was with him a subject of thanksgiving that he could speak so many; but he felt that there were more valuable endowments than this; see the next verse. With tongues more than ye all - I am able to speak more foreign languages than all of you. “How many” languages Paul could speak, he has no where told us. It is reasonable, however, to presume that he was able to speak the language of any people to whom God in his providence, and by his Spirit, called him to preach. He had been commissioned to preach to the “Gentiles,” and it is probable that he was able to speak the languages of all the nations among whom he ever traveled. There is no account of his being under a necessity of employing an interpreter wherever he preached.
Modern Voices1 voice
A commentator
Derek Prince1915–2003
I Thank My God I Speak with Tongues More than You All... (devotional)
When we combine this testimony of Paul's with the other examples given in the book of Acts, it is reasonable to conclude that Paul first began to speak with tongues when Ananias laid his hands upon him for the infilling of the Spirit.
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Εὐχαριστῶ | eucharisto | I thank | G2168 → | 38 times |
| τῷ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεῷ | theo | God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| πάντων | panton | than all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| ὑμῶν | humon | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| μᾶλλον | mallon | more | G3123 → | 81 times |
| γλώσσαις | glossais | in tongues | G1100 → | 49 times |
| λαλῶ· | lalo | speaking; | G2980 → | 294 times |
ΕὐχαριστῶI thank
eucharistoG2168 →38 times
τῷthe
toG3588 →19766 times
θεῷGod
theoG2316 →1312 times
πάντωνthan all
pantonG3956 →1235 times
ὑμῶνof you
humonG4771 →2973 times
μᾶλλονmore
mallonG3123 →81 times
γλώσσαιςin tongues
glossaisG1100 →49 times
λαλῶ·speaking;
laloG2980 →294 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 4:7For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
it leads to
- John 3:27
John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.
- James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- 1 Peter 4:10
As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.
- 1 Chronicles 29:11–16
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom,…
- Romans 12:6
We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith;
- John 3:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Derek Prince, I Thank My God I Speak with Tongues More than You All... (devotional); John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 35; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.