1 Corinthians 14:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Corinthians 14:6
Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?
a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m… · noun — vocative plural masculine
if
ἐὰνean
G1437
a conditional particle · conditional particle
come
ἔλθωelthō
G2064
to come or go (in a great variety of applications · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 1st person singular
unto
πρὸςpros
G4314
a preposition of direction · preposition
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
speaking
λαλῶν,lalōn
G2980
to talk · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
tongues
γλώσσαιςglōssais
G1100
the tongue · noun — dative plural feminine
what
τίti
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — accusative singular neuter
profit
ὠφελήσω,ōphelēsō
G5623
to be useful · verb — future active indicative, 1st person singular
you
ὑμᾶςhymâs
G5209
you (as the objective of a verb or preposition)
except
ἐὰνean
G1437
a conditional particle · conditional particle
speak
λαλήσωlalēsō
G2980
to talk · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 1st person singular
you
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
either
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
by
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
revelation
ἀποκαλύψειapokalupsei
G602
disclosure · noun — dative singular feminine
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
by
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
knowledge
γνώσειgnōsei
G1108
knowing (the act) · noun — dative singular feminine
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
by
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
prophesying
προφητείᾳprophēteia
G4394
prediction (scriptural or other) · noun — dative singular feminine
or
ἢē
G2228
disjunctive · conjunction
by
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
doctrine
διδαχῇ;didachēa
G1322
instruction (the act or the matter) · noun — dative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ephesians 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Romans 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
1 Corinthians 14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
1 Corinthians 14:26-30 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an i…
Hebrews 13:9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, whi…
2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
2 John 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both th…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 14:6-14
In this paragraph he goes on to show how vain a thing the ostentation of speaking unknown and unintelligible language must be. It was altogether unedifying and unprofitable (Co1 14:6): If I come to you speaking with tongues, what will it profit you, unless I speak to you by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? It would signify nothing to utter any of these in an unknown tongue. An apostle, with all his furniture, could not edify, unless he spoke to the capacity of his hearers. New revelations, the most clear explications of old ones, the most instructive discourses in themselves, would be unprofitable in a language not understood. Nay, interpretations of scripture…
Translate, "But now"; seeing there is no edification without interpretation.
revelation . . . prophesying--corresponding one to the other; "revelation" being the supernatural unveiling of divine truths to man, "prophesying" the enunciation to men of such revelations. So "knowledge" corresponds to "doctrine," which is the gift of teaching to others our knowledge. As the former pair refers to specially revealed mysteries, so the latter pair refers to the general obvious truths of salvation, brought from the common storehouse of believers.
Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 14:6
Speaking with tongues - Without interpreting.
What shall I profit you? - i.e. I shall not profit you;
Except I shall speak to you either by revelation - Of some secret thing; or by knowledge, of some mystery; or by prophesying, foretelling some future event; or by doctrine, instructing you what to believe and practice. - See Whitby. These four words are taken in different acceptations by learned men. The general sense of the terms is that given above: but the peculiar meaning of the apostle is perhaps not easily discerned.
John Gill on 1 Corinthians 14:6
Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues,.... The apostle exemplifies this matter in himself, and supposes it his own case, that should he who was the apostle of the Gentiles, and to be received by them as such, when he came to them, come with this gift of tongues, which he was capable of, as much, or more than any, see 1 Corinthians 14:18 and only make use of that,
what shall I profit you? of what use would my ministry be to you? what instruction, comfort, and edification, could you receive by it?
except I shall speak to you, either by revelation; by the revelation of Jesus Christ, whereby he received the Gospel he preached; or by the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the…
The Church Fathers
"The generation of those that seek Him" is the elect race, devoted to inquiry after knowledge. Wherefore also the apostle says, "I shall profit you nothing, unless I speak to you, either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophecy, or by doctrine." Although even by those who are not Gnostics some things are done rightly, yet not according to reason; as in the case of fortitude. For some who are naturally high-spirited, and have afterwards without reason fostered this disposition, rush to many things, and act like brave men, so as sometimes to succeed in achieving the same things; just as endurance is easy for mechanics. But it is not from the same cause, or with the same object; not were they to give their whole body. "For they have not love," according to the apostle.
"But now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you either by way of revelation, or of knowledge, or of prophesying, or of teaching?" "And why speak I," saith he, "of the rest? Nay, let the person who speaketh with tongues be Paul: for not even so will any good come to the hearers" And these things he saith to signify that he is seeking their profit, not beating any grudge against them that have the gift; since not even in his own person doth he shrink from pointing out its unprofitableness. And indeed it is his constant way to work out the disagreeable topics in his own person: as in the beginning of the Epistle he said, "Who then is Paul? and who is Apollos? and who is Cephas?" This same then he doth also here, saying, "Not even I shall profit you, except I speak to you either by way of revelation, or of prophesying, or of knowledge, or of teaching." And what he means is, "if I say not somewhat that can be made intelligible to you and that may be dear, but merely make display of my having the gift of tongues;-tongues which ye do not understand, ye will go away with no sort of profit. For how should you profit by a voice which ye understand not?"
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Language · unless there was an inspired interpreter present — unless there was an inspired interpreter present
Preaching · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Tongues (The Gift) · The miraculous gift granted to — The miraculous gift granted to
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
1 Corinthians 14:1-6
1. Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
1. Sectamini caritatem: aemulamini spiritualia, magis autem ut prophetetis.
2. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
2. Nam qui loquitur lingua, non hominibus loquitur sed Deo: nullus enim audit; Spiritu vero loquitur mysteria.
3. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
3. Caeterum qui prophetat, heminibus loquitur ad aedificationem, exhortationem, et consolationem.
4. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth hi…
