1 Corinthians 14:18-19

“I thank God, I speak in tongues more than ye all; 19. yet in the Church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in tongues.”

The apostle means by 1 Corinthians 14:18 that he by no means disdains the gift of tongues, so highly prized at Corinth; he even thanks God for having bestowed it on him richly. These words have been understood in two ways; by some: “I give thanks, I bless, I adore, in the form of discoursing in tongues, more than you all.” In this sense, we should have to prefer the reading λαλῶν, speaking, of the T. R. or that of the Alexandrinus, which simply rejects the word λαλῶ or λαλῶν : “I give thanks in tongues, more than you all.” But I think it probable that these two poorly supported readings are corrections whereby it has been sought to give the word εὐχαριστεῖν the same meaning as it had in 1 Corinthians 14:17: to thank God in an ecstatic discourse. The true reading is undoubtedly λαλῶ, I speak. This verb would require in strictness to be connected with the foregoing εὐχαριστῶ, I give thanks, by the conjunction ὅτι, for the fact that (as is the case in the reading of F G); but very often in classical Greek this conjunction is omitted, and the two verbs are simply put in juxtaposition: “ I give thanks, I speak...” for: “I give thanks for the fact that I speak.” This is probably the true reading. Moreover, this meaning might also be that of the reading λαλῶν.

We must, with the Alex. and Greco-Lats., reject the μου after θεῷ, for which there is no sufficient ground in the context.

There is room for hesitation between the plural (tongues) and the singular. Both readings are admissible. But what is inconceivable is, how Meyer in such a passage can still apply the term tongue to the material organ: Paul giving thanks to God because he speaks more than all the Corinthians by means of his tongue! And if we read the plural, then this meaning becomes altogether absurd (comp. 1 Corinthians 14:5).

It should be remarked that he does not say: “Because I speak in more tongues than you all;” as he would require to do if he was thinking of actually existing foreign tongues; but: “Because I speak in tongues more than you all.” It is a mode of speaking in which he surpasses them all.

Vv. 19. After paying this homage to glossolalia, the apostle consigns this gift to its place. This place is the domain of private edification, not public worship. The emphasis is on the word ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ, in the assembly. The contents of the verse are explained by 1 Corinthians 14:4: He that speaks in tongues edifies himself; but he gives nothing to the Church.

In the reading τῷ νοΐ μου, the words denote the mental state of the speaker (of sober sense). In the received reading (διὰ τοῦ νοός μου), the νοῦς, the understanding, comes in as the instrument of assimilation by means of which the intuitions of the prophet and the thoughts suggested to the teacher are conveyed to the Church. The also before ἄλλους signifies: “Not only myself, as would be the case with the gift of tongues, but others also.”

In the form θέλω ἤ, the ἤ, than, depends on the idea of comparison contained in θέλω. Classic Greek thus uses ἤ with θέλω and βούλομαι (see Edwards). The verb κατηχεῖν, to make a sound penetrate to the ears of any one, comes thus to signify to instruct, catechise. The term includes the two gifts of prophecy and teaching. The apostle concludes this whole development with a saying intended to lead the imprudent and frivolous Corinthians to serious reflection.