to give (used in a very wide application · verb — second aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular
uncertain
ἄδηλονadēlon
G82
hidden · adjective — accusative singular feminine
sound
φωνὴνphōnēn
G5456
a tone (articulate · noun — accusative singular feminine
who
τίςtis
G5101
an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
himself
παρασκευάσεταιparaskeuasetai
G3903
to furnish aside · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
to
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
battle
πόλεμον;polemon
G4171
warfare (literally or figuratively · noun — accusative singular masculine
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
Numbers 10:9 And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remem…
Ezekiel 33:3-6 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Jeremiah 4:19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my sou…
Nehemiah 4:18-21 For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
Job 39:24-25 He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
Isaiah 27:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of…
Joel 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD co…
Amos 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
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, "For if also," an additional step in the argument.
uncertain sound--having no definite meaning: whereas it ought to be so marked that one succession of notes on the trumpet should summon the soldiers to attack; another, to retreat; another, to some other evolution.
Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 14:8
If the trumpet give an uncertain sound - If, when the soldier should prepare himself for the battle, the trumpet should give a different sound to that which is ordinarily used on such occasions, the soldier is not informed of what he should do, and therefore does not arm himself; consequently, that vague, unintelligible sound of the trumpet, is of no use.
John Gill on 1 Corinthians 14:8
For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound,.... That is not plain and manifest, so as that it cannot be known on what account it is given:
who shall prepare himself to the battle? the allusion is to the custom of many nations, Jews and others, who, when about to engage in war, made use of musical instruments, particularly the trumpet, to gather the soldiers together, prepare them for the battle, give them notice of it, and animate them to it (y); the sound of the trumpet was the alarm of war; see Jeremiah 4:5. And particularly the allusion may be to the two silver trumpets, ordered by God to Moses for the Jews, which were to be made of a whole piece, and to be used for the calling of the as…
The Church Fathers
If it is uncertain whether the bugle is sounding for relaxation or for war, nobody will get ready for battle. The latter is how your own words should be understood, for they are meant to prepare soldiers for spiritual warfare.
Thence one comes to Mount Shepher, which is called "trumpet-blowing." The trumpet is the sign of war. Therefore, where it perceives itself armed with such and so great virtues, of necessity it advances to war, which is for it against the principalities and powers, and against the rulers of this world; or else certainly it sounds the trumpet in the word of God, that is, of preaching and of doctrine, that it may "give a distinct sound by the trumpet," so that he who hears it may be able to prepare himself for war.
"For if the trumpet give an uncertain voice, who shall prepare himself for war?" Thus from things merry ornamental he carries on his argument to those which are more necessary and useful; and saith that not in the harp alone, but in the trumpet also one may see this effect produced. For in that also there are certain measures; and they give out at one time a warlike note, and at another one that is not so; and again sometimes it leads out to line of battle and at others recalls from it: and unless one know this, there is great danger. Which is just what he means, and the mischief of it what he is manifesting, when he saith, "who shall prepare himself for war?" So then, if it have not this quality, it is the ruin of all.
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
Music · The movements of armies regulated by — The movements of armies regulated by
Preaching · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Tongues (The Gift) · The miraculous gift granted to — The miraculous gift granted to
Trumpet · Used in war — Used in war
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 14:7-17
7. And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?
7. Quin et inanimia vocem reddentia, sive tibia, sive cithara, nisi distinctionem sonis dederint: quomodo cognoscetur, quod tibia canitur aut cithara?
8. For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
8. Etenim si incertam vocem tuba dederit, quis apparabitur ad bellum?
9. 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.
9. Sic et vos per linguam, nisi significantem sermone…
