Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy - Prophetic Gifts Today In The New Testament Church

The Prophetic Confusion at Corinth

cussion with an unfamiliar (to us) translation of an unusual, seldom-used Old Testament reference, 34 Isaiah 28:11-1 2.Paul's quotation in 1 Cor inthians 14: 21 is given below in modern English:

New Living Translation: "I will speak to my own people through unknown languages and through the lips of foreigners. But even then, they will not listen to me," says the Lord.

New King James: "With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; and yet, for all that, they will not hear Me."

Other tongues. Paul found Isaiah's unusual text appealing because of its reference to tongues: "With men of other tongues and other lips ..." (NKJV). The KJV and NKJV accurately translate the Corinthian text as "other tongues" (heteroglossois). "Strange tongues" is used by the NN and NASB mainly, it appears, to parallel Isaiah.In this case "other tongues" is not a direct translation of either the Hebrew or the Greek Old Testament, but possibly an unknown translation or personal interpretation.Paraphras ing Old Testament Scripture (more an interpretation than a translation) was a common tendency of New Testament writers. Barrett says of this difficult text: "This [NT] quotation is not given in agreement with the LXX [the Septuagint]; there is some evidence (Origen, Philocalia ix.2) that Paul may have used here a version known also to the later Old Testament translator Aquila.It was probably the word 'men of other tongues' that caught his eye and suggested the application of the pas sage to his discussion of 'tongues.' ...His point is simply that (according to the Lord himself) when he speaks to men by means of strange tongues they will not listen-that is, they will not hear in obedience and faith." 35 Paul extricates one basic truth to illustrate his point, apparently not meaning for every aspect of the Isaiah reference to find an exact applica tion. 36 He makes no literal connection between the Assyrian language and New Testament tongues.Instead his loosely shaped quotation reinforces and secures his basic argument: Unbelievers and outsiders are repulsed by uninterpreted languages, so tongues to them become a negative sign of judgment. The simple point of this verse is often lost because the context is not considered.In the Old Testament setting, Isaiah lamented Israel's spurn ing of the message of the Hebrew prophets, which was given in clear, unambiguous speech in their mother tongue.Since the people refused to 223 ■