Should we or shouldn’t we prevent the speaking in other tongues?

The apostle Paul devotes an entire chapter (1 Corinthians 14) in his first letter to speaking in other languages during the gatherings of the church. See the exegesis of 1 Corinthians 14:2 in this regard. He severely restricts such speaking in foreign tongues during worship (see 1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:6, 1 Corinthians 14:9, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:21–24, 1 Corinthians 14:27–28).

Yet in the concluding verses of this chapter, he suddenly seems to want to give more opportunity to such speaking in foreign languages than you would expect from the earlier part of this chapter. Look at what he writes in this verse. How does this little phrase fit after everything that Paul wrote first? Doesn’t this invalidate his entire argument?

Interpretation 1: Do not despise the speaking in tongues

Summary: Paul maintains that prophecy is to be valued and used above all other gifts of God’s Spirit in the church (compare 1 Corinthians 14:39 with 1 Corinthians 14:1). Yet he does not want other gifts, such as the mastery of another language, to be despised.

Arguments in favour of this view:

In these concluding words Paul addresses himself especially to those who have received the gift of prophecy. Because of what Paul wrote about this, they might start to consider themselves much more important than those who, at the prompting of the Spirit, can worship God in one or more foreign languages.

Arguments against this view:

1.  We do not read anything in the whole chapter about church members who might feel more important because they have the gift of prophecy. Rather, we get the impression from this chapter that those who could express themselves in foreign languages thought themselves very special.

2.  If Paul wanted to call the prophesying members of the church in this final sentence to continue to strive for prophesying, but not to despise expressing themselves in other languages, he would have had to use the Greek word “alla” (= but) instead of “kai” (= and).

Interpretation 2: Do not completely ban the speaking in tongues

Summary: At the end of his argument about the relationship between prophecy and worship in other languages, Paul somewhat relativizes his tempering of the latter.

Arguments in favour of this view:

In his closing sentence Paul repeats in summary what he wrote earlier in 1 Corinthians 14:27–28. He knows that worshiping God in foreign languages is also an important gift of the Spirit. It was one of the first signs of his coming (Acts 2:4). He realizes at the end of this chapter that he did restrict this gift in rather strong terms. Therefore, at the end of his argument, he lets us know that it should not be concluded from what he wrote that worship in other languages should be completely banned from worship services.

Arguments against of this view:

1.  Nowhere in this chapter did Paul urge that worship in foreign languages should be either forbidden or prevented. The translation in the ESV of the Greek word kolyo with forbid is too strong. The Greek word means to prevent, to discourage. Paul did in fact give room to it, albeit within certain limits, especially also in 1 Corinthians 14:27–29. Therefore it is not necessary to return in a closing sentence in a relativizing way to what he had written earlier.

2.  Also with this interpretation, Paul’s use of the Greek word alla (but) instead of kai (and) would have been more obvious.

Interpretation 3: Do not prevent the speaking in tongues

Summary: Some of the ancient Greek manuscripts of this letter have a different sequence of Paul’s concluding words in this chapter: “So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy and you may not hinder speaking (Greek: lalein) by tongues (Greek: glossais).”

Arguments in favour of this view:

1. This different arrangement of the words finds support in Paul’s use of the Greek words “lalein” (= speaking) and “glossai” (= tongues) throughout the chapter. As often as he means speaking in tongues, he links the two into one expression: speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:4–6, 1 Corinthians 14:18, 1 Corinthians 14:23, 1 Corinthians 14:27). Therefore he never separates lalein and glossais by a verb or something like that, as does happen in the reading of 1 Corinthians 14:39 that is often followed by translations. Moreover, he does also use glossai sometimes only for speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:22, and already earlier in 1 Corinthians 12:10 and 1 Corinthians 13:8), while he also uses lalein for the speaking of the prophets (1 Corinthians 14:3, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:29).

2.  In this interpretation the Greek word “kai” (and), unlike in interpretations 1 and 2, does make sense: in summarizing and going back to the opening sentence in 1 Corinthians 14:1, Paul repeats in a final sentence what he has been arguing throughout the chapter.