NOTES for Co1 14:20-40

Speaking about tongues, the Apostle recalls Isaiah’s prophecy: “By people with stammering lips and with a foreign tongue this people will be addressed” (Isa 28:11). The Lord ordained this punishment for the Israelites because they “would not listen” (Isa 28:12) to the prophet. In Isaiah, a foreign tongue is the language of conquerors, a sign of God’s punishment. When the gift of tongues is used for the wrong purpose, does it not become a cause of division and therefore a sign of punishment?

The Apostle establishes a strict rule, forbidding people to speak publicly in tongues when there is no interpreter. Tongues are not rejected altogether; they may be used in private prayer (28). Yet the principle “keep silent in church” must have grieved those who were accustomed to boasting of this gift (compare Matt 6:1–8, 16–18).

Prophets must likewise observe order. Remarkably, the “spirits of prophets” are obedient to true prophets; they observe order so that believers may “learn and receive encouragement” (and for this, for example, prophets must not all speak at once, or no one will understand anything).

The requirement that “women... should keep silent” is hardly an absolute prohibition; earlier the Apostle permits women not only to pray but also to prophesy, requiring only that their heads be covered (see 11:5).

The words “everything should be done decently and in order” show that proper order is no less valuable than the freedom of the prophetic Spirit, who “blows where He wills” (John 3:8).

The sinful world inclines many people to think that freedom and order are incompatible, but they are united wherever love reigns. So it should be in the Church as well.