• 14:26-33 Orderly use of tongues and prophecy

• 14:34-35 Orderly conduct required of women
• 14:36-38 Paul claims divine origin of his teaching
• 14:39-40 Summary on the use of tongues and prophecy

14:27
3 guidelines for tongues:

(a)    Only two, or at the most three, should speak; this is most likely the limit for one service.
(b)    Only one at a time can speak in an orderly way and not out of control.
(c)    Someone must interpret in order to be make the tongues intelligible.

14:28
If the tongues-speakers have not experienced the gift of interpretation, and if no one with this gift is present, then they are to remain silent and should pray to God in tongues in private.

14:29
3 guidelines for prophecy:

(a)    Only two or three prophets should speak at one time, but there is no limit for one service, as in v.24, it is possible that all prophesy in the worship.
(b)    Others need to weigh carefully what is said (using the same verb as "distinguishing between spirits" in 12:10) and to discern whether the prophecy itself truly conforms to the Spirit of God.
(c)    Only one at a time can speak in an orderly way and not out of control.

14:32
A Christian worship is radically different from the mania of the pagan cults which was characterized by frenzy and disorder. "spirit of the prophets" = the prophetic Spirit by which each of them speaks through his or her own spirit

14:33
"Peace" refers to the sense of harmony that will occur in a Christian assembly when everyone is truly in the Spirit and the aim of everything is the edification of the whole. It does not necessarily mean somber ritual; worshipping with spontaneity or joy can still be peaceful.

All the churches of the saints are intended to be orderly. Thus orderliness not only conforms to the character of God but also in step with the rest of his churches.

Some translations put the phrase "in all the congregations of the saints" as part of v.34. The problem is that it would then read: "As in all the churches of the saints women should remain silent in the churches" which contains a redundant phrase "in the churches".

14:34
Alternative explanations:

(a) The verses apparently apply to married women alone. The possible problem is that some women were shouting out disruptive speech during worship (asking their husbands questions) in Jewish synagogue where women and men are separated into two sides.

(b) Women at that time lived most of their lives at home. Once they got outside, they had a great tendency to try to catch up on the news, even during worship. Paul asks the women simply not to chat (to "hush up", not to "shut up") as it is disruptive to the service. The Greek verb here means chatter or converse.

(c) The prohibition is against speaking tongues by women as there may be actual cases of women disrupting the assembly with tongues.

Textual studies of the original manuscripts cast doubt on the authenticity of these two verses because:

(a) in many manuscripts these are found after v.40;
(b) very little in these two verses fits into the present argument while v.36 is a much more natural continuation;
(c) the teaching is supposedly in "the Law"; yet nothing like this is in the OT, except in rabbinic Judaism.

14:36
Paul challenges whether God has given them a special word that allows them both to reject Paul's instructions and be so out of touch with the other churches.

14:37
Paul challenges the Corinthians for their perspective on spirituality; he claims that the Lord is the source of what he has been writing.

"spiritually gifted" is more accurately translated as "a person of the Spirit".

14:39
Final summary of the whole chapter: (a) reaffirming the priority of prophecy, (b) not forbidding tongues, (c) everything to be done in a fitting and orderly way.

• Spiritual gifts should be recognizable by the person with the gifts as well as by others. To avoid self delusion, confirmation of peers is needed.
• A ministry in the church should be open to all who have related spiritual gifts and all who have a burden on that ministry. Spiritual gifts may be uncovered while serving.

• Three questions should be asked before deciding on whether a command is applicable today:

(a) Is the command inherently moral? Those that are inherently moral are absolute and applicable to every culture, such as the sin lists (see notes for 5:11). Those that are not inherently moral may change from culture to culture.

(b) Is there uniform witness in the Bible? If there are different positions, then the command is not absolute, e.g. eating food offered to the idols (Ac 15:29, 1Co 10:25-26).

(c) Do we share similar specific life situations? The cultural setting of Biblical passages and the intent or reason of the command must be understood, e.g. prohibitions in Ac 15:20 as a compromise to satisfy Jewish Christians.

• The command in v.34-35 for women to "remain silent" contradicts 1Co 11:2-16 where women were allowed to pray and prophesy in the assembly. Further, "each one" in v.26 and "all" in v.31 should include women. Thus, there is no uniform witness and this is definitely not an absolute command.

• God gives spiritual gifts of teaching and leadership to some women (Ac 2:16-17), and spiritual gifts are given solely for the benefit of the church (1Co 12:7, Eph 4:11-12). If it is not to be used in church, why did God give those gifts to women? If God intends the gifts to be used in church, how then can the church prohibit its use?