Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 14:17
For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
17. thou verily givest thanks well ] Well, either (1) as referring to the fact that thanks were given it is well to give thanks or, (2) to the manner and spirit in which that action was performed , nobly, honourably. Some would translate givest thanks by celebratest the Eucharist. See ch. 1Co 11:24.
the other ] i.e. he who fills the layman’s place.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For thou verily givest thanks well – That is, even if you use a foreign language. You do it with the heart; and it is accepted by God as your offering; but the other, who cannot understand it, cannot be benefited by it.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. Thou verily givest thanks well] Because he felt gratitude, and, from a sense of his obligation, gave praise to God; but because this was in an unknown tongue, those who heard him received no edification.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Otherwise, saith the apostle, it is possible that thou mayst give thanks well; but others get no good by it, nor can make any good and spiritual improvement of it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. givest thanksThe prayersof the synagogue were called “eulogies,” because to eachprayer was joined a thanksgiving. Hence the prayers of theChristian Church also were called blessings and giving ofthanks. This illustrates Col 4:2;1Th 5:17; 1Th 5:18.So the Kaddisch and Keduscha, the synagogue formul of”hallowing” the divine “name” and of prayer forthe “coming of God’s kingdom,” answer to the Church’sLord’s Prayer, repeated often and made the foundation on which theother prayers are built [TERTULLIAN,Prayer].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For thou verily givest thanks well,…. In very proper words, and pertinent expressions, with great affection and devotion, suitable to the service;
but the other is not edified; the rest of the people, who do not understand the language in which thanks are given; “thy friend”, as the Syriac version reads it; or thy next neighbour, he that stands by thee, receives no manner of profit by it, because he does not understand what is said.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “For thou verily givest thanks well,” (su men gar kalos eucharisteis) “For (suppose or assume) thou indeed givest thanks well.” Col 3:17; Eph 5:20. Paul evaluates the devotion and maturity of the church and her members by a spiritually utilitarian or practical standard, based on actions that honor, God and helps ones fellowman.
2) “But the other is not edified.” (all’ ho heteros ouk oikodomeitai) “But the other person (of another language) is not edified, enlightened, built up, or helped,” 2Pe 3:18; Act 20:32. The abstractly beautiful, the outwardly ostentatious, is placed subordinate to the edifying in life.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(17) For thou verily givest thanks well.It is here implied that speaking in a tongue was, as regards an individual, an acceptable mode of worship, and it is the public use of it that all throughout this passage the Apostle is dealing with.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Not edified Completely and conclusively does Paul’s language and reasoning forbid the Romish use of the Latin language in divine service all over the world. It is an unknown tongue, and, therefore, the people are not edified. It is useless for Rome to reply that it was only unknown charismatic tongues that were forbidden. For if even an inspired person might not speak Latin without a translation, much more the uninspired.
This was often done in former times by priests who did not themselves understand Latin; and Fulke, in his “Confutation of the Rhemish Testament,” gives some amusing specimens of murdered Latin current in the Romish utterance of the ritual.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Co 14:17 . For thou indeed (by thyself considered) utterest an excellent thanksgiving-prayer . This Paul admits, and with reason, since the speaker prayed (Theodoret).
] , 1Co 14:16 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
Ver. 17. But the other is not edified ] This we should all labour, viz. to edify others. Synesius speaks of some, who having a treasure of tongues and other abilities in them, would as soon part with their hearts as their meditations; the canker of whose great skill shall be a witness against them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17. ] is not ironical, but concessive: it is not the act of thanksgiving in a tongue that the Apostle blames, for that is of itself good , being dictated by the Spirit: but the doing it not to the edification of others .
, the spoken of before.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 14:17 . “For thou indeed givest thanks well” admirably, finely ( : cf. Luk 20:39 , Jas 2:19 ): words lgrement ironiques (Gd [2102] ). = (16: see note, also on 1Co 1:4 ). , i.e. , the of 1Co 14:16 signifies, as in 1Co 6:6 , 1Co 10:29 ; the pron [2103] a distinct or even opposite person. P. estimates the devotions of the Church by a spiritually utilitarian standard; the abstractly beautiful is subordinated to the practically edifying: the like test is applied to a diff [2104] matter in 1Co 10:23 ; 1Co 10:33 .
[2102] F. Godet’s Commentaire sur la prem. p. aux Corinthiens (Eng. Trans.).
[2103]ron. pronoun.
[2104] difference, different, differently.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
givest thanks. Greek. eucharisteo. See Act 27:35.
other. Greek. heteros. App-124.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
17.] is not ironical, but concessive: it is not the act of thanksgiving in a tongue that the Apostle blames, for that is of itself good, being dictated by the Spirit: but the doing it not to the edification of others.
, the spoken of before.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 14:17
1Co 14:17
For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.-As it was expressed in a tongue which he did not understand, he was not edified. [It is impossible to join in prayers uttered in an unknown tongue. This proves that the speaker must have understood what he said. For if the unintelligible is useless, it must be so to the speaker as well as to the hearers. If it was necessary that they should understand in order to be edified, it was no less necessary that he should understand what he said in order to be benefited.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
but: 1Co 14:4, 1Co 14:6
Reciprocal: 1Co 10:23 – edify 1Co 12:7 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 14:17. A prayer uttered in a foreign tongue could be well formed, but it would not edify the unlearned man.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 14:17. For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edifiedYour own part may be done out of a full heart, but all in vain to your hearers.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. [The one who was so under the influence of the Spirit of God as to speak with tongues, produced words and sentences with little or no intellectual effort. His spirit, being in accord with the Spirit of God, uttered the exhortation or the prayer with his spirit rather than with his understanding. Therefore, taking the case of prayer as an example, Paul advises that the understanding be kept as active as the spirit, and that a man so control the flow of prayer as to pause from time to time that he might interpret it, thus making his understanding as fruitful as his spirit. If he does not do this, he prays with his tongue indeed, but his understanding bears no fruit in the congregation where he prays. For this reason the apostle made it his rule to pray with his spirit and interpret with his understanding, and to sing also in like manner. If the speaker did not do this, how could one who was not gifted to interpret say Amen to the petition offered, seeing that he knew not what it was? Thus, no matter how ably the gifted one might pray, the ungifted one would not be edified. Amen was then, as now, the word of ratification or assent to an expression of prayer or praise, of blessing or cursing (Deu 27:15; Neh 5:13; Rev 5:14). Justin Martyr (Ap., c. 65, 67) describes the use of the Amen, after the prayer at the communion service. It is to that or some similar use that Paul refers. Doddridge justly says that this passage is decisive against the ridiculous practice of the church of Rome of praying and praising in Latin, which is not only a foreign, but a dead, tongue. Moreover, it shows that prayer is not a vicarious duty done for us by others. We must join in it.]