Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 14:11
Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh [shall be] a barbarian unto me.
11. the meaning of the voice ] Literally, its force.
a barbarian ] This word is here used in its original signification of one whose speech is unintelligible,
unto me ] Literally, in me, i.e. in my estimation.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The meaning of the voice – Of the language that is uttered, or the sounds that are made.
I shall be unto him … – What I say will be unintelligible to him, and what he says will be unintelligible to me. We cannot understand one another any more than people can who speak different languages.
A barbarian – See the note at Rom 1:14. The word means one who speaks a different, or a foreign language.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. If I know not the meaning of the voice] , The power and signification of the language.
I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian] I shall appear to him, and he to me, as a person who had no distinct and articulate sounds which can convey any kind of meaning. This observation is very natural: when we hear persons speaking in a language of which we know nothing, we wonder how they can understand each other, as, in their speech, there appears to us no regular distinction of sounds or words. For the meaning and origin of the word barbarian, See Clarke on Ac 28:2.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But if a man doth not understand the language, the words are not significant unto him, I shall neither understand him, nor will he understand me; for a barbarian cannot understand one of another nation, till he hath learned the language of that nation; nor can a man of another nation understand a barbarian till he hath learned his language.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. Thereforeseeing that noneis without meaning.
a barbariana foreigner(Ac 28:2). Not in thedepreciatory sense as the term is now used, but one speaking aforeign language.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice,…. The force and power of a language, the signification of it, the ideas its words convey, but only hear the sound of it:
I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me: like one of those rude and uncultivated people that inhabit deserts and wild places, who can neither understand the language of others, nor be understood by others; and indeed may be meant of any sort of people, that do not understand one another’s language: the word , “bar”, and , “bara”, in the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic languages, not only signifies a field, a wood, or desert place, but also without, or any thing extraneous; and being doubled, signifies one that lives without, in another land; a stranger, and that speaks a strange language; so all other nations of the world were barbarians to the Hebrews, and particularly the Egyptians; see the Targum on Ps 114:1 and so were all other nations to the Greeks, see Ro 1:14 and also to the Romans: and the sense is, that where the signification of a language and the sense of words are not known, the speaker is like a man that lives in a strange country to him that hears him; and the hearer is like to one that lives in a strange country to him that speaks, since they cannot understand one another. The word sometimes is used for men, , z, “that can neither speak nor hear”, men dumb and deaf; and when words cannot be understood, the case is all one as with such persons.
z Scholia in Aristoph. in Avibus, p. 550.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The meaning of the voice ( ). The power (force) of the voice.
A barbarian (). Jargon, –. The Egyptians called all who did not speak their tongue. The Greeks followed suit for all ignorant of Greek language and culture. They divided mankind into Hellenes and Barbarians.
Unto me ( ). In my case, almost like a dative.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Meaning [] . Lit., force.
Barbarian. Supposed to be originally a descriptive word of those who uttered harsh, rude accents – bar bar. Homer calls the Carians, barbarofwnoi barbar – voiced, harsh – speaking (” Illiad, “2, 867). Later, applied to all who did not speak Greek. Socrates, speaking of the way in which the Greeks divide up mankind, says :” Here they cut off the Hellenes as one species, and all the other species of mankind, which are innumerable and have no connection or common language, they include under the single name of barbarians “(Plato,” Statesman, “262). So Clytaemnestra of the captive Cassandra :” Like a swallow, endowed with an unintelligible barbaric voice “(Aeschylus,” Agamemnon, “1051). Prodicus in Plato’s” Protagoras “says :” Simonides is twitting Pittacus with ignorance of the use of terms, which, in a Lesbian, who has been accustomed to speak in a barbarous language, is natural ” (341).
Aristophanes calls the birds barbarians because they sing inarticulately (” Birds, “199); and Sophocles calls a foreign land aglwssov without a tongue.” Neither Hellas nor a tongueless land “(” Trachiniae,” 1060). Later, the word took the sense of outlandish or rude.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice,” (ean oun me eido ten dunamin tes phones) “if therefore I know or perceive not the dynamics of the sound-voice.”
2) “I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian,” (esomai to lalounti barbaros) “I shall be or exist to the one speaking, like a foreigner, heathen, or barbarian.”
3) “And he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.” (kai ho lalon en emoi barbaros) “And the one speaking in (to) me shall be as a foreigner or barbarian.” Though precious the message, it confuses, disturbs, obstructs, rather than helps the hearer, if there be no interpreter, Rom 1:14-15.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian (822) The tongue ought to be an index of the mind — not merely in the sense of the proverb, but in the sense that is explained by Aristotle in the commencement of his book — “On Interpretation.” (823) How foolish then it is and preposterous in a man, to utter in an assembly a voice of which the hearer understands nothing — in which he perceives no token from which he may learn what the person means! It is not without good reason, therefore, that Paul views it as the height of absurdity, that a man should be a barbarian to the hearers, by chattering in an unknown tongue, and at the same time he elegantly treats with derision the foolish ambition of the Corinthians, who were eager to obtain praise and fame by this means. “This reward,” says he, “you will earn — that you will be a barbarian.” For the term barbarian, whether it be an artificial one, (as Strabo thinks, (824)) or derived from some other origin, is taken in a bad sense. Hence the Greeks, who looked upon themselves as the only persons who were good speakers, and had a polished language, gave to all others the name of barbarians, from their rude and rustic dialect. No language, however, is so cultivated as not to be reckoned barbarous, when it is not understood. “ He that heareth,” says Paul, “ will be unto me a barbarian, and I will be so to him in return.” By these words he intimates, that to speak in an unknown tongue, is not to hold fellowship with the Church, but rather to keep aloof from it, and that he who will act this part, will be deservedly despised by others, because he first despises them.
(822) “The Greeks, after the custom of the Egyptians, mentioned by; Herodotus, (lib. 2,) called all those barbarians who did not speak their language. In process of time, however, the Romans having subdued the Greeks, delivered themselves by the force of arms from that opprobrious appellation; and joined the Greeks in calling all barbarians who did not speak either the Greek or the Latin language. Afterwards, barbarian signified any one who spoke a language which another did not understand. Thus the Scythian philosopher, Anacharsis, said, that among the Athenians the Scythians were barbarians; and among the Scythians the Athenians were barbarians. In like manner Ovid. Trist. 5. 10, ‘ Barbarus hic ego sum, quia non intelligor ulli;’ — ‘I am a barbarian here, because I am not understood by any one.’ This is the sense which the Apostle affixes to the word barbarian, in the present passage. McKnight. — Ed.
(823) “ La langue doit estre comme vn image, pour expimer et representer ce qui est en l’entendement;” — “The tongue should be like an image, to express and represent what is in the understanding.”
(824) He considers the term βάρβαρος, (barbarian,) to be a term constructed in imitation of the sense — to convey the idea of one that speaks with difficulty and harshness. See Strabo, Book 14. Bloomfield considers the term barbarian to be derived — “not” as some think, “from the Arabic berber, to murmur, but from the Punic berber, a shepherd — having been originally appropriated to the indigenous and pastoral inhabitants of Africa; who, to their more civilized fellow-men on the other side of the Mediterranean, appeared rustics and barbarians. Hence the term βάρβαρος came at length to mean a rustic or clown. ” — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice.Language is useless unless we know what meaning is attached to each word uttered. The hearer is a foreigner (or barbarian), then, in the estimation of the speaker, and the speaker a foreigner in the estimation of the hearer. Thus the truth that sounds of tongues are useless unless they convey definite ideas to the hearers, is illustrated (1) by different instruments of music, (2) by different sounds of an instrument, (3) by different words and languages of living menin all of which cases the conveyance of distinct ideas is the sign and test of their utility.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Meaning of the voice Literally, the force of the speech.
A barbarian The Greeks were proud of their own race and of their own language, and the talk of a foreigner was a mere bar bar, and so they called the foreigner a barbaros, or babbler. Hence Greek and barbarian, in Rom 1:14, is an antithesis for all the world, like Jew and Gentile.
The antithesis was first founded, as here, on language; but barbarian has finally come to signify uncivilized.
11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
Ver. 11. A barbarian ] So the Grecians called all nations that spoke not their language. It is reported that nowhere in this day is spoken more barbarous language than at Athens, once the Greece of Greece. (Neand. Chron.)
11. ] , seeing that none is without meaning: for if any were , the imputations following would not be just. We assume that a tongue which we do not understand has a meaning , and that it is the way of expression of some foreign nation .
, a foreigner , in the sense of one who is ignorant of the speech and habits of a people. So Ovid, Trist. 1Co 14:10 , ‘Barbarus hic ego sum, quia non intelligor ulli:’ and Herod. ii. 158, . (Wetst.) The appellation always conveyed a certain contempt, and such is evidently intended here. So Ovid, in the next line, ‘Et rident stolidi verba Latina Get.’
, in my estimation : so Eurip. Hippol. 1335, , ‘in his judgment and in mine:’ see Khner, ii. 275.
1Co 14:11 . “If then I know not the meaning of the voice” ( , vim or virtutem vocis ) for every voice has a meaning (1Co 14:10 b ); on this very possible hypothesis, “I shall be a barbarian to the speaker, and the speaker a barbarian in relation to me” ( , cf. Mat 21:42 , and perhaps 1Co 2:6 above), or “in my ear”. By this illustration of the futility of the uninterpreted Tongues, Paul implicitly distinguishes them from natural foreign languages; there is a in the comparison, just as in the previous comparison with harp and trumpet; one does not compare things identical. The second figure goes beyond the first; since the foreign speech, like the mysterious (1Co 14:2 ), may hide a precious meaning, and is the more provoking on that account, as the repeated intimates.
know. App-132.
meaning = force. App-172.
barbarian. See Act 28:2.
unto. Greek. en. App-104. in my regard.
11.] , seeing that none is without meaning: for if any were, the imputations following would not be just. We assume that a tongue which we do not understand has a meaning, and that it is the way of expression of some foreign nation.
,-a foreigner, in the sense of one who is ignorant of the speech and habits of a people. So Ovid, Trist. 1Co 14:10,-Barbarus hic ego sum, quia non intelligor ulli: and Herod. ii. 158,- . (Wetst.) The appellation always conveyed a certain contempt, and such is evidently intended here. So Ovid, in the next line,-Et rident stolidi verba Latina Get.
, in my estimation: so Eurip. Hippol. 1335, ,-in his judgment and in mine: see Khner, ii. 275.
1Co 14:11. , a barbarian) See Act 28:2, Note.
1Co 14:11
1Co 14:11
If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian,-If he who hears does not know the meaning of the language spoken, the hearer will be a barbarian to the speaker.
and he that speaketh will be a barbarian unto me.-The speaker will be a barbarian to the hearer. Neither will be profited by the other in speaking or hearing the language that is not understood. The Greeks used the word barbarian of any foreigner ignorant of the Greek language and the Greek culture.
I shall: 1Co 14:21, Act 28:2, Act 28:4, Rom 1:14, Col 3:11
1Co 14:11. But unless the hearer knows the meaning of the word when it is spoken to him, he will receive no exchange of thought from the speaker. Barbarian is from BARBAROS, and Thayer’s definition in this passage is as follows: “One who speaks a foreign or strange language which is not understood by another.” Hence the word does not necessarily mean a term of reproach in the New Testament. But when used with regard to language between different people, it does always mean they are barbarians to each other, if there is not a mutual understanding of the speech that it uttered.
1Co 14:11. If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh a barbariana foreigner, understanding not the language used (by this name all foreigners were called by the Greeks and Romans, Act 28:2),and he that speaketh will be a barbarian unto me.
If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian [a foreigner- -Act 28:2], and he that speaketh will be a barbarian unto me.
Verse 11
A barbarian; a foreigner.
14:11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that {g} speaketh [shall be] a barbarian unto me.
(g) As the papists in all their sermons, and they that ambitiously pour out some Hebrew or Greek words in the pulpit before the unlearned people, by this to get themselves a name of vain learning.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes