The phrase speaks in a tongue is the main theme that connects chapters 12, 13, and 14 (see the comments on 12.10). This theme is discussed in greater detail in the present chapter. Nothing in this letter would indicate that Paul used the term “tongues” to refer to actual human languages. In fact, in verses 10 and 11 he employs a different Greek word to speak about human languages. Both Revised Standard Version and Good News Bible show this difference clearly. Other modern translations such as Bijbel in Gewone Taal and New International Version have tended to translate “tongues” as “foreign languages.” However, An American Translation has “anyone who speaks ecstatically,” and Barclay says “when a man is speaking in ecstatic language.” In the comments on 12.10 we suggested that if a literal translation of the word “tongues” has a strange meaning or is unintelligible, translators may use terms such as “ecstatic speech,” “strange sounds,” or “unintelligible sounds.” The Translator’s New Testament glossary note on “tongues” is helpful but too long to reproduce here.

The phrase one who may be rendered as “the person who.” It is a generic singular that Good News Bible correctly translates by a plural (also in verses 3-4 and elsewhere; see the introduction to this section). A tongue is also a generic singular, meaning “(any) strange tongue(s).” Revised English Bible also uses a plural.

Men in this verse does not exclude women, so Good News Bible translates “others.”

Mysteries refers here to “secrets,” things that are not generally known, as in 13.2: “understand all mysteries.”

The final sentence of this verse can be translated as follows: “He is using the power of the Spirit to speak secret truths.”

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 .