1 Corinthians 14:21 BSB

1 Corinthians 14:21

It is written in the Law: “By strange tongues and foreign lips I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

In the law it is written, By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers will I speak unto this people; and not even thus will they hear me, saith the Lord.

KJV

In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.

⋯

Commentary

2 voices

Origen of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 4.65 (253)

Note that Paul refers to the prophetic writings also as the "law." In this passage he is quoting Isaiah [28:11] according to Aquila's translation, and not according to the Septuagint.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

In the law it is written,.... In Isa 28:11 for the word law is not be confined to the five books of Moses, but includes all the writings of the Old Testament; and this entirely agrees with the sense of the Jews. Says R.

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

It is written in the Law - The word here, as frequently, means the Old Testament. In foreign tongues will I speak to this people - And so he did. He spake terribly to them by the Babylonians, when they had set at nought what he had spoken by the prophets, who used their own language.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

In the law--as the whole Old Testament is called, being all of it the law of God. Compare the citation of the Psalms as the "law," Joh 10:34. Here the quotation is from Isa 28:11, 12, where God virtually says of Israel, This people hear Me not, though I speak to. them in the language with which they are familiar;

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

22 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ἐν	en	In	G1722 →
τῷ	tō	the	G3588 →
νόμῳ	nomō	law	G3551 →
γέγραπται	gegraptai	it has been written	G1125 →
ὅτι	hoti	that	G3754 →
ἐν	en	By	G1722 →
ἑτερογλώσσοις	heteroglōssois	other tongues	G2084 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
ἐν	en	by	G1722 →
χείλεσιν	cheilesin	lips	G5491 →
ἑτέρων	heterōn	of others	G2087 →
λαλήσω	lalēsō	I will speak	G2980 →
τῷ	tō	to the	G3588 →
λαῷ	laō	people	G2992 →
τούτῳ,	toutō	this,	G3778 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
οὐδ᾽	oud᾽	not even	G3761 →
οὕτως	houtōs	thus	G3779 →
εἰσακούσονταί	eisakousontai	will they hear	G1522 →
μου,	mou	Me,	G3165 →
λέγει	legei	says	G3004 →
κύριος.	kurios	[the] Lord.	G2962 →

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 walk8

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
John 10:34
Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’?
leads to
- Psalms 82:6–7
  I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.’
- Exodus 7:1
  The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
- Psalms 82:1
  God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods:
- Exodus 4:16
  He will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and it will be as if you were God to him.
- Psalms 138:1
  I give You thanks with all my heart; before the gods I sing Your praises.
Through
Romans 3:19
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
leads to
- Galatians 3:10
  All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Galatians 3:22–23
  But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.
- Romans 2:12–18
  All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.

Featured studies on this passage

On 1 Corinthians 14:21

The Gifts of the Spirit — 1 Corinthians 12–14

Open the study →