Languages: here and in verse 11, the Greek word for “sound” is used in the sense of “language.” By using this word Paul makes it clear that he is not talking about “tongues” in this verse. Some modern translations such as Phillips and New English Bible translate this word as “sounds,” but Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, and Revised English Bible render it as “languages.” This latter translation is preferable.

The words translated many different convey the ideas (1) of a large number, and (2) that Paul is unwilling to say how many. Barrett translates “there are I don’t know how many languages in the world.”

The adjective translated without meaning means “incapable of speech,” as in 2 Peter 2.16, which refers to Balaam’s donkey. So the meaning may also be “incapable of meaning.” One can render this double-negative clause positively as “yet all of them have meaning.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .