An Interpretation of "γλῶσσα" written in the 1 Corinthians ⑨

D. Examples of 1 Corinthians

In 1 Corinthians, “γλῶσσα” was written in plural six times (Chapter 12, 4 times; Chapter 13, 2 tiems) except for 14. Chapter 14 was used 16 times. It was written eight times in verses 5(x2), 6, 18, 21, 22, 3, 39, and eight times in verses 2, 4, 9, 13, 14, 19, 26, 27. The peculiarity is that in verse 9 “οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς διὰ τῆς γλώσσης ἐὰν μὴ εὔσημον λόγον δῶτε, πῶς γνωσθήσεται τὸ λαλούμενον; ἔσεσθε γὰρ εἰς ἀέρα λαλοῦντες” (1 Cor. 14:9, NA28) is written as a singular number (τῆς γλώσσης) and should be translated as “the tongue” with a definite article attached. In the English version, the words “the tongue words” (KJV) and “ your tongue ” (NIV, ESV) are written, so that if “as part of the body, tongue” cannot be attached to the definite article, so it should be viewed as “tongue” (an unknown tongue). The Korean version is divided into “tongue as a body part” (NKRV, DKV) and “tongue (s)” (NKSV, NCTB).

On the other hand, KJV says that 7 of the 8 verses (2; 4; 9; 13; 14; 19; 27) excluding the 26 verses used in the singular is “an unknown tongue”. On the other hand, in verse 26 it is written with “a tongue”. This is a different expression from the other verses used in the singular. This is because verse 26 is written with listing " a psalm ", " a doctrine ", " a tongue ", " a revelation ", and " an interpretation ". For rhetorical reasons, it seems to have been omitted to balance the other words.

In 1 Corinthians, "tongue (s)" is written with only one word; " γλῶσσα ". Also, when “tongue (s)” (γλῶσσα) is used in conjunction with a verb, it is written as “speak in tongues”. There is only one verse in 1 Corinthians 14:14 that says "prayer in tongue (s)." However, even in 14:14, it is difficult to make evidence of the existence of “tongue (s) prayer” because it was used as a subjunctive, “if you pray in tongue (s)”. For this reason, in practice, the definite usage of verb phrase relevant to "tongue (s)" should only be “to utter in tongue(s)”, not “to pray in tongue (s).” [36]

Here, since the subjunctive phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:14 has decisive clues regarding “praying in tongues”, it must be interpreted accurately. Kim Dong-chan claims that 1 Corinthians 14:14 is not a "subjunctive", but a "simple conditional clause." That's because in the English grammatical structure, an auxiliary verb is not used in the main clause in the phrase. In order for 14:14 to become “subjunctive”, the future verb “προσεύξομαι” must be written as used in 14:15. Therefore, 14:14 is a simple conditional clause. That's why we have to interpret that Paul was actually “praying in tongues.”[37] It may seem reasonable when interpreted using English grammar. However, this seems to be a mistranslation from a poor understanding of the Greek “subjunctive”. “Subjunctive” is more versatile in Greek than in English. The verb used as “subjunctive” has no meaning of “time,” only the meaning of “aspect.” Whether in the "aorist" or "present" tense, the Greek "subjunctive" has no concept of absolute time. Therefore, in 14:14, there are subjunctive conjunction “ἐὰν” and lengthend verb “προσευχωμαι”, so the Greek present subjunctive conditions are met. The interpretation of how to interpret it, that is, whether the speaker sees the conditional clause as actually happening or simply presupposes the possibility, must be judged by context.[38]

Another important point is to quote Isaiah 28: 11, 12 from 1 Corinthians 14: 21 and 22. The "tongue" in Isaiah 28: 11 of the Old Testament is clearly a foreign language in context. However, in the Old Testament the Hebrew word “Rashon” (לָשׁוֹן) is written in singular. LXX also writes “γλώσσης ἑτέρας” (another tongue) in singular, whereas Paul uses plural in 1 Corinthians 14:21 (ἑτερογλώσσοις, other tongues). When used in singular in LXX, it seems to be due to the rules of grammar that singular nouns must come after "another" in English. However, it seems that Paul intentionally changed the expression and used it as a plural (ἑτερογώσσοις, other tongues). It is an attempt to clearly distinguish it from “γλῶσσα” as a singular.

However, as mentioned in Chapter 1, there is “heteroglossolalia” among the types of “tongue (s)” (γλώσσαις) classified by Stanley Mr. Brugess.

“Heteroglossolalia” is a “tongue (s)” (γλώσσαις) that enables listeners to understand the content in their own language when the other person speaks a foreign language. If you look at the word “ἑτερογλώσσοις”, which is a retranslated (γλώσσαις), you can translate it as “heteroglossolalia” as a plural noun. If such a new interpretation is attempted, the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 21-25, which can be said to be the representative verse of the New Testament Bible Difficulty, must be interpreted completely differently from the previous interpretation. In other words, “as recorded in the Old Testament, even if God sent another nation to prove to the North Israel people who mocked and did not listen to the prophets, they would not listen.” (Verse 21). As you can see from the quoted Old Testament verse, “tongue (s)” is used to express a one-time miracle (σημεῖον) to unbelievers”(v. 22). For this reason, verse 23 can be interpreted as “If all the church members are talking in these “tongues”, wouldn’t unbelievers or new believers say that all people in the church are crazy?” On the other hand, the prophecy of preaching the word of God strengthens the faith of believers, and if everyone in the church speaks of this prophecy, unbelievers and new believers will be moved to repent and worship it (verses 24-25). As such, Paul in verses 21-25 does not condemn “foreign tongues” as a gift, but argues that it is irrational to do collectively in the church, judging by the usage of “foreign tongues”. For this reason, it is nevertheless recommended not to stop speaking in “tongues”, a foreign language as a gift (verse 39).

To understand what the “tongue (s)” (γλῶσσα) of 1 Corinthians 14 means, we must first accurately analyze the usages in Chapters 12 and 13. First, in Chapter 12, the Holy Spirit gives nine examples (wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, interpretation in tongues) as gifts to the common good. These are all spiritual gifts and are given to each member (12:11). Paul "does not want church members to be uninformed" (12: 1). And he recommends them to "eagerly desire the greater gifts" (12:31). It is clear that the four uses of 1 Corinthians 12 “tongue (s)” (γλώσσαις) (12:10; 2 times, verse 28, verse 30) are all used in plural and are “foreign languages ​​as gifts” as in Acts. Judging from this, the “foreign language tongues” used in plural in 1 Corinthians should be regarded as the ability to “mostly have not learned at all” as a gift of the Holy Spirit, rather than just “a good ability to speak foreign languages.” But in verse 14:18, Paul says, "Thank God for saying "tongues"(γλώσσαις) more than others (μᾶλλον γλώσσαις λαλῶ). Given this, Paul's brilliant foreign language proficiency implies that some of his foreign language skills were received as gifts and would have been used in his wide range of missionary activities, although much of his knowledge was acquired through his own learning.

Paul places 13 Chapters preaching love between Chapter 12, which discusses the gift of the Holy Spirit, and Chapter 14, which can be called the “Chapter of tongue (s)”. The members of the Corinthian church seemed to be facinated and enthusiastic about gifts such as “tongue (s)” (γλῶσσα), which seemingly brilliant, perhaps a common sight in worship. It was a childish sense of superiority to show off to others and another sign of no love. Paul set the example of his self-sacrificing love and service in Chapter 9, between Chapter 8 and 10. This was to show Paul to the Corinthians that the strong and the weak were fighting for the problem of eating idol offerings, because there was no love and service. Likewise, Paul put Chapter 13 of praise for love between Chapter 12 and 14, which deals with the proper use of the gifts. In doing so, all gifts are taught to be used to serve neighbors and build communities in a spirit of love.^[39]

Paul emphasizes love by saying, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13: 1, NIV). The people thought that the gift of tongues was the language spoken by angels, and they valued and boasted the gift of the tongue, and they exercised indiscriminately at every service, causing chaos. “A resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” was a tool used in the frenzy of hell in Greek mysterious religions. Paul's use of this expression here is to remind the Corinthian Christians of their past experiences in Greek mystery religion, to say that speaking in tongues without love is no different from the worship of their past Gentile religions.^[40] It is said here, “even if I speak the languages ​​of people and angels” (Ἐὰν ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαλῶ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων). “People” and “angels” become “peoples languages” and “angels languages” because they are linked together to “languages”. This can be viewed as the basis of the modern church's “tongue (s)” (γλῶσσα) or as “a kind of exaggerated expression”. However, “tongues” (γλῶσσα) at ​​this time were used in plural. In view of this, Paul seems to have thought that there are also “religious ecstasy” in the “foreign language tongue (s)” (γλῶσσα) as the gifts he is doing. It was said that Paul would have admitted to "tongue (s)" (γλῶσσα) as a gift, as well as "religious ecstasy" as well as "foreign language tongues." Kim Dongchan said, '' tongue (s)” (γλῶσσα) is not a gift given to all believers. Therefore, it is wrong to teach that anyone who is filled with the Holy Spirit can receive the gift of ‘tongue (s)’ (γλῶσσα), and it can hurt the believer.”[41] Many influential and spirit-filled workers around the world often fail to "tongue (s)" (γλῶσσα) but acknowledge that "tongue (s)" (γλῶσσα) is a gift from God. In this case, however, it also refers to ecstasy as “a foreign language as a gift” or “an angel's language”, not as an “repeated unknown sound” as a negative aspect.

These “foreign language tongues as gifts” are not whole, but partial, so “when everything comes will disappear” (13: 8, 10). There is also the theory that “the whole thing” is the Second Coming of Jesus, and that the New Testament was completed as the canon (about A.D. 90). If we take “the theory of completion of the canon,” these “tongues (s)” (γλῶσσα) should have disappeared in modern times. On the other hand, if we take “the theory of the Second Coming of Jesus,” there will still be partially “tongue (s)” (γλῶσσα) in modern times. Considering various evidences, it can be seen that “tongue (s)” (γλῶσσα) still exists in the modern church. Therefore, in this paper, “the theory of the Second Coming of Jesus” is taken.[42]

 

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