Law here refers more generally to “scripture,” since the quotation is almost certainly from Isa 28.11-12. The UBS Greek text notes a possible allusion to Deuteronomy 28.49, but this is more remote. “Scriptures” (Good News Bible) clearly refers to what Christians now call the Old Testament. Translators should avoid using the word Bible, as readers may think that the New Testament is included.

It is written: see comments on 1.19.

As in 1.19, Paul quotes a piece of Old Testament poetry in which the same thing is said twice in different words in successive lines. This is called “parallelism.” Revised Standard Version reproduces it, but Good News Bible shows that it is not necessary to reproduce it in languages that do not have this kind of poetry. The quotation in this verse does not correspond exactly either to the Hebrew or to the Septuagint and may be based on another Greek translation. Here as elsewhere, translators should avoid adapting the New Testament quotation to fit in with the Old Testament text. The meaning of the quotation is different from the thought in earlier verses. The Old Testament text means that Israel will not listen obediently to God, even when God sends an invader against them who speaks a foreign language. Paul appears to make the text mean that speaking with tongues is not intended for the believing community, but for those outside it. Even this appears to conflict with what Paul has said earlier. Perhaps his meaning is that the ability to understand speaking with tongues is a sign by which believers may be distinguished from unbelievers.

The words says the Lord are not part of the text in Isaiah. However, it seems more natural to suppose that Paul added this common Old Testament refrain, intending it to be read as part of the quotation, rather than that he used it in his own name. If this is correct, Lord probably means “God,” not “Christ.”

The first part of this verse can be restructured as
• “I will use men who speak strange languages to speak to my people, says the Lord.”

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 .