SEV Biblia, Chapter 14:21
¶ En la ley est escrito: Que en otras lenguas y con otros labios hablar a este pueblo; y ni aun así me oirn, dice el Seor.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 14:21
Verse 21. In the law it is written] But the passage quoted is in Isa. xxviii. 11. Here is no contradiction, for the term hryt torah, LAW, was frequently used by the Jews to express the whole Scriptures, law, prophets, and hagiographia; and they used it to distinguish these sacred writings from the words of the scribes. With men of other tongues] Bishop Pearce paraphrases this verse as follows: "With the tongues of foreigners and with the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people; and yet, for all that, will they not hear me, saith the Lord." To enter into the apostle's meaning we must enter into that of the prophet. The Jewish people were under the teaching of the prophets who were sent from God; these instructed, reproved, and corrected them by this Divine authority. They however became so refractory and disobedient that God purposed to cast them off, and abandon them to the Babylonians: then, they had a people to teach, correct, and reprove them, whose language they did not understand. The discipline that they received in this way was widely different from that which they received while under the teaching of the prophets and the government of God; and yet for all this they did not humble themselves before their Maker that this affliction might be removed from them.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 21. In the law it is written , etc.] In ( Isaiah 28:11) for the word law is not be confined to the five books of Moses, but includes all the writings of the Old Testament; and this entirely agrees with the sense of the Jews.
Says R. Azarias f302 is it not to be found with our wise men, of blessed memory, in many places, that the word hrwt , law, comprehends the prophets, and the holy writings?
And he gives an instance out of the Talmud, and which indeed is very pertinent to the purpose, and is rightly produced, and will support the apostle in calling the prophecy of Isaiah the law, since it is so called in the following passage f303 . R. Chijah bar Aba says, that R. Jochanan said, from whence is the resurrection of the dead to be proved, hrwth m , out of the law? from what is said in ( Isaiah 52:8) thy watchmen shall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall they sing. It is not said they sing, but they shall sing: from hence the resurrection of the dead is to be proved out of the law.
And out of the same book the apostle cites the following words; with [men of] other tongues, and other lips, will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord : the words, men of, are a supplement of our translators, and which does not seem very necessary: nor is any made in other versions. The words, as they are in our translation of the prophet, are read thus, with stammering lips, and another tongue, will he speak to this people. Some difference there is between the two passages, which are of no great moment; the words lips and tongue are inverted by the apostle; nor was it at all material to observe the strict order of them in the citation: and he has also rendered stammering lips by other tongues, and that very rightly; for the word g[l , used by Isaiah, does not signify stammering, but derision or mocking; so persons that are spoken to in a language they understand not, look upon themselves to be mocked and derided: and the apostle is to be justified by the Chaldee paraphrase, which renders the words, llmm ywnb , with change of speech: that is, with another and different language. Moreover, it is to be observed, that the prophet delivers the passage in the third person, and the apostle cites it in the first: the reason of this is, because he adds these words to it, saith the Lord: partly for the sake of the authority of the words, and partly to engage the attention of the Corinthians to them; and certain it is, that Isaiahs meaning is, that the Lord would speak in such a manner to the Jews: the other phrase, for all that will they not hear me, are taken out of ( Isaiah 28:12). Some think that this prophecy refers to Gods speaking, by the apostles on the day of Pentecost, with divers tongues, to the Jews; when, though there were three thousand converted at that time, yet these were but comparatively few; the body of the people remained incredulous, and hearkened not to the apostles, though their ministry was attended with such signs and wonders: but rather the sense seems to be this, that whereas the Lord had spoken in the plainest manner to the people of the Jews, by the prophets, as he would afterwards by the apostles, and had repeated his words so often, that even a child might be thought to be capable of receiving them; yet such was their stupidity and obstinacy, that they slighted and disregarded them; wherefore he threatens them he would take another method with them, and speak to them in his providences, by people of different and strange languages, as by the Chaldeans, Medes, and Persians, in the seventy years captivity, and by the Romans, and other nations since, among whom they now are; and yet all this has had no effect upon them to listen to the doctrine of the prophets and apostles. Hence the Corinthians had no reason to be so desirous of speaking with divers tongues, since these have been threatened and used by God in a way of punishment to a people, and not a blessing.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 15-25 - There can be no assent to prayers that are not understood. A trul Christian minister will seek much more to do spiritual good to men' souls, than to get the greatest applause to himself. This is provin himself the servant of Christ. Children are apt to be struck with novelty; but do not act like them. Christians should be like children void of guile and malice; yet they should not be unskilful as to the word of righteousness, but only as to the arts of mischief. It is proof that a people are forsaken of God, when he gives them up to the rule of those who teach them to worship in another language. They can never be benefitted by such teaching. Yet thus the preachers did wh delivered their instructions in an unknown tongue. Would it not make Christianity ridiculous to a heathen, to hear the ministers pray of preach in a language which neither he nor the assembly understood? But if those who minister, plainly interpret Scripture, or preach the grea truths and rules of the gospel, a heathen or unlearned person migh become a convert to Christianity. His conscience might be touched, the secrets of his heart might be revealed to him, and so he might be brought to confess his guilt, and to own that God was present in the assembly. Scripture truth, plainly and duly taught, has a wonderfu power to awaken the conscience and touch the heart.
Greek Textus Receptus
εν 1722 PREP τω 3588 T-DSM νομω 3551 N-DSM γεγραπται 1125 5769 V-RPI-3S οτι 3754 CONJ εν 1722 PREP ετερογλωσσοις 2084 A-DPM και 2532 CONJ εν 1722 PREP χειλεσιν 5491 N-DPN ετεροις 2087 A-DPN λαλησω 2980 5692 V-FAI-1S τω 3588 T-DSM λαω 2992 N-DSM τουτω 5129 D-DSM και 2532 CONJ ουδ 3761 ADV ουτως 3779 ADV εισακουσονται 1522 5695 V-FDI-3P μου 3450 P-1GS λεγει 3004 5719 V-PAI-3S κυριος 2962 N-NSM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
21. It is written, etc. From Isa. xxviii. 11, 12. The quotation does not correspond exactly either to the Hebrew or to the Septuagint. Heb., with stammerings of lip. Sept., By reason of contemptuous words of lips. Paul omits the Heb.: This is the rest, give ye rest to the weary, and this is the repose. Sept.: This is the rest to him who is hungry, and this is the ruin. The point of the quotation is that speech in strange tongues was a chastisement for the unbelief of God's ancient people, by which they were made to hear His voice "speaking in the harsh commands of the foreign invader." So in the Corinthian Church, the intelligible revelation of God has not been properly received.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
14:21 {In the law it is written} (en twi nomwi gegraptai). #Isa 28:11f. Freely quoted.
