1 Corinthians 14:11

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me.

King James Version (1611)
Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voyce, I shall bee vnto him that speaketh, a Barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a Barbarian vnto mee.

King James Version
Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.

English Standard Version
but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.

New American Standard Bible
So if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be unintelligible to the one who speaks, and the one who speaks will be unintelligible to me.

New Century Version
But unless I understand the meaning of what someone says to me, we will be like foreigners to each other.

Amplified Bible
But if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will [appear to] be a foreigner to the one who is speaking [since he knows exactly what he is saying], and the one who is speaking will [appear to] be a foreigner to me.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me.

Legacy Standard Bible
If then I do not know the meaning of the sound, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me.

Berean Standard Bible
If, then, I do not know the meaning of someone's language, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.

Contemporary English Version
But if I don't understand the language that someone is using, we will be like foreigners to each other.

Complete Jewish Bible
but if I don't know what a person's sounds mean, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker will be a foreigner to me.

Darby Translation
If therefore I do not know the power of the sound, I shall be to him that speaks a barbarian, and he that speaks a barbarian for me.

Easy-to-Read Version
But if I don't understand the meaning of what someone is saying, it will just be strange sounds to me, and I will sound just as strange to them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Except I know then the power of ye voyce, I shall be vnto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh, shalbe a barbarian vnto me.

George Lamsa Translation
So if I do not understand the utterance, I shall be as a barbarian to the speaker, and the speaker shall be as a barbarian to me.

Good News Translation
But if I do not know the language being spoken, those who use it will be foreigners to me and I will be a foreigner to them.

Lexham English Bible
Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a barbarian to the one who is speaking, and the one who is speaking will be a barbarian in my judgment.

Literal Translation
If, then, I do not know the power of the sound, I will be a foreigner to the one speaking, and he speaking to me, a foreigner.

American Standard Version
If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh will be a barbarian unto me.

Bible in Basic English
But if the sense of the voice is not clear to me, I am like a man from a strange country to him who is talking, and he will be the same to me.

Hebrew Names Version
If then I don't know the meaning of the sound, I would be to him who speaks a foreigner, and he who speaks would be a foreigner to me.

International Standard Version
If I don't know the meaning of the language,sound">[fn] I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker will be a foreigner to me.

Etheridge Translation
but if I do not know the power of the voice, I become as a barbarian to him who speaks, and he also who speaks is a barbarian to me.

Murdock Translation
But if I do not know the import of the sound, I shall be a barbarian to him that speaketh, and the speaker will be a barbarian to me.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
If I knowe not what the voyce meaneth, I shalbe lyke vnto hym that speaketh, an aliaunt: and he that speaketh, shalbe an aliaunt vnto me.

English Revised Version
If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh will be a barbarian unto me.

World English Bible
If then I don't know the meaning of the voice, I would be to him who speaks a foreigner, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Yet if I know not the meaning of the language, I shall be a barbarian to him that speaketh, and he that speaketh will be a barbarian to me.

Weymouth's New Testament
If, however, I do not know the meaning of the particular language, I shall seem to the speaker of it, and he to me, to be merely talking some foreign tongue.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But if Y knowe not the vertu of a vois, Y schal be to hym, to whom Y schal speke, a barbarik; and he that spekith to me, schal be a barbarik.

Update Bible Version
If then I don't know the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaks a barbarian, and he that speaks will be a barbarian to me.

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore, if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh [will be] a barbarian to me.

New English Translation
If then I do not know the meaning of a language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.

New King James Version
Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.

New Living Translation
But if I don't understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me.

New Life Bible
But if I do not understand the language someone uses to speak to me, the man who speaks is a stranger to me. I am a stranger to him.

New Revised Standard
If then I do not know the meaning of a sound, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
If, then, I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be, unto him that is speaking, a foreigner, and, he that is speaking, shall be, in my case, a foreigner.

Douay-Rheims Bible
If then I know not the power of the voice, I shall be to him to whom I speak a barbarian: and he that speaketh a barbarian to me.

Revised Standard Version
but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
If I knowe not what the voyce meaneth I shalbe vnto him that speaketh an alient: and and he that speaketh shalbe an alient vnto me

Young's Literal Translation
if, then, I do not know the power of the voice, I shall be to him who is speaking a foreigner, and he who is speaking, is to me a foreigner;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf I knowe not now what ye voyce meaneth, I shalbe an aleaunt vnto him that speaketh: & he that speaketh, shalbe an aleaut vnto me.

Mace New Testament (1729)
therefore if I don't know the meaning of the language, with respect to him that speaks, I shall be a barbarian; and he that speaks shall be a barbarian to me.

Simplified Cowboy Version
But if no one speaks that language, then there is no meaning. The person who doesn't understand will feel like a foreigner in a strange land or

Contextual Overview

⁶Think, friends: If I come to you and all I do is pray privately to God in a way only he can understand, what are you going to get out of that? If I don't address you plainly with some insight or truth or proclamation or teaching, what help am I to you? If musical instruments—flutes, say, or harps—aren't played so that each note is distinct and in tune, how will anyone be able to catch the melody and enjoy the music? If the trumpet call can't be distinguished, will anyone show up for the battle? ⁹So if you speak in a way no one can understand, what's the point of opening your mouth? There are many languages in the world and they all mean something to someone. But if I don't understand the language, it's not going to do me much good. It's no different with you. Since you're so eager to participate in what God is doing, why don't you concentrate on doing what helps everyone in the church? ¹³So, when you pray in your private prayer language, don't hoard the experience for yourself. Pray for the insight and ability to bring others into that intimacy. If I pray in tongues, my spirit prays but my mind lies fallow, and all that intelligence is wasted. So what's the solution? The answer is simple enough. Do both. I should be spiritually free and expressive as I pray, but I should also be thoughtful and mindful as I pray. I should sing with my spirit, and sing with my mind. If you give a blessing using your private prayer language, which no one else understands, how can some outsider who has just shown up and has no idea what's going on know when to say "Amen"? Your blessing might be beautiful, but you have very effectively cut that person out of it.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I shall: 1 Corinthians 14:21, Acts 28:2, Acts 28:4, Romans 1:14, Colossians 3:11

Cross-References

Genesis 14:21
The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me back the people but keep all the plunder for yourself."

Deuteronomy 28:35
God will hit you with painful boils on your knees and legs and no healing or relief from head to foot.

Deuteronomy 28:51
If you listen obediently to the Voice of God , your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God , your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God , your God: God 's blessing inside the city, God 's blessing in the country; God 's blessing on your children, the crops of your land, the young of your livestock, the calves of your herds, the lambs of your flocks. God 's blessing on your basket and bread bowl; God 's blessing in your coming in, God 's blessing in your going out. God will defeat your enemies who attack you. They'll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads. God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he'll bless you in the land that God , your God, is giving you. God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God , your God, and live the way he has shown you. All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe. God will lavish you with good things: children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that God promised your ancestors that he would give you. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but you yourself won't have to take out a loan. God will make you the head, not the tail; you'll always be the top dog, never the bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God , your God, that I am commanding you today. Don't swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods. Here's what will happen if you don't obediently listen to the Voice of God , your God, and diligently keep all the commandments and guidelines that I'm commanding you today. All these curses will come down hard on you: God 's curse in the city, God 's curse in the country; God 's curse on your basket and bread bowl; God 's curse on your children, the crops of your land, the young of your livestock, the calves of your herds, the lambs of your flocks. God 's curse in your coming in, God 's curse in your going out. God will send The Curse, The Confusion, The Contrariness down on everything you try to do until you've been destroyed and there's nothing left of you—all because of your evil pursuits that led you to abandon me. God will infect you with The Disease, wiping you right off the land that you're going in to possess. God will set consumption and fever and rash and seizures and dehydration and blight and jaundice on you. They'll hunt you down until they kill you. The sky over your head will become an iron roof, the ground under your feet, a slab of concrete. From out of the skies God will rain ash and dust down on you until you suffocate. God will defeat you by enemy attack. You'll come at your enemies on one road and run away on seven roads. All the kingdoms of Earth will see you as a horror. Carrion birds and animals will boldly feast on your dead body with no one to chase them away. God will hit you hard with the boils of Egypt, hemorrhoids, scabs, and an incurable itch. He'll make you go crazy and blind and senile. You'll grope around in the middle of the day like a blind person feeling his way through a lifetime of darkness; you'll never get to where you're going. Not a day will go by that you're not abused and robbed. And no one is going to help you. You'll get engaged to a woman and another man will take her for his mistress; you'll build a house and never live in it; you'll plant a garden and never eat so much as a carrot; you'll watch your ox get butchered and not get a single steak from it; your donkey will be stolen from in front of you and you'll never see it again; your sheep will be sent off to your enemies and no one will lift a hand to help you. Your sons and daughters will be shipped off to foreigners; you'll wear your eyes out looking vainly for them, helpless to do a thing. Your crops and everything you work for will be eaten and used by foreigners; you'll spend the rest of your lives abused and knocked around. What you see will drive you crazy. God will hit you with painful boils on your knees and legs and no healing or relief from head to foot. God will lead you and the king you set over you to a country neither you nor your ancestors have heard of; there you'll worship other gods, no-gods of wood and stone. Among all the peoples where God will take you, you'll be treated as a lesson or a proverb—a horror! You'll plant sacks and sacks of seed in the field but get almost nothing—the grasshoppers will devour it. You'll plant and hoe and prune vineyards but won't drink or put up any wine—the worms will devour them. You'll have groves of olive trees everywhere, but you'll have no oil to rub on your face or hands—the olives will have fallen off. You'll have sons and daughters but they won't be yours for long—they'll go off to captivity. Locusts will take over all your trees and crops. The foreigner who lives among you will climb the ladder, higher and higher, while you go deeper and deeper into the hole. He'll lend to you; you won't lend to him. He'll be the head; you'll be the tail. All these curses are going to come on you. They're going to hunt you down and get you until there's nothing left of you because you didn't obediently listen to the Voice of God , your God, and diligently keep his commandments and guidelines that I commanded you. The curses will serve as signposts, warnings to your children ever after. Because you didn't serve God , your God, out of the joy and goodness of your heart in the great abundance, you'll have to serve your enemies whom God will send against you. Life will be famine and drought, rags and wretchedness; then he'll put an iron yoke on your neck until he's destroyed you. Yes, God will raise up a faraway nation against you, swooping down on you like an eagle, a nation whose language you can't understand, a mean-faced people, cruel to grandmothers and babies alike. They'll ravage the young of your animals and the crops from your fields until you're destroyed. They'll leave nothing behind: no grain, no wine, no oil, no calves, no lambs—and finally, no you. They'll lay siege to you while you're huddled behind your town gates. They'll knock those high, proud walls flat, those walls behind which you felt so safe. They'll lay siege to your fortified cities all over the country, this country that God , your God, has given you. And you'll end up cannibalizing your own sons and daughters that God , your God, has given you. When the suffering from the siege gets extreme, you're going to eat your own babies. The most gentle and caring man among you will turn hard, his eye evil, against his own brother, his cherished wife, and even the rest of his children who are still alive, refusing to share with them a scrap of meat from the cannibal child-stew he is eating. He's lost everything, even his humanity, in the suffering of the siege that your enemy mounts against your fortified towns. And the most gentle and caring woman among you, a woman who wouldn't step on a wildflower, will turn hard, her eye evil, against her cherished husband, against her son, against her daughter, against even the afterbirth of her newborn infants; she plans to eat them in secret—she does eat them!—because she has lost everything, even her humanity, in the suffering of the siege that your enemy mounts against your fortified towns. If you don't diligently keep all the words of this Revelation written in this book, living in holy awe before This Name glorious and terrible, God , your God, then God will pound you with catastrophes, you and your children, huge interminable catastrophes, hideous interminable illnesses. He'll bring back and stick you with every old Egyptian malady that once terrorized you. And yes, every disease and catastrophe imaginable—things not even written in the Book of this Revelation— God will bring on you until you're destroyed. Because you didn't listen obediently to the Voice of God , your God, you'll be left with a few pitiful stragglers in place of the dazzling stars-in-the-heavens multitude you had become. And this is how things will end up: Just as God once enjoyed you, took pleasure in making life good for you, giving you many children, so God will enjoy getting rid of you, clearing you off the Earth. He'll weed you out of the very soil that you are entering in to possess. He'll scatter you to the four winds, from one end of the Earth to the other. You'll worship all kinds of other gods, gods neither you nor your parents ever heard of, wood and stone no-gods. But you won't find a home there, you'll not be able to settle down. God will give you a restless heart, longing eyes, a homesick soul. You will live in constant jeopardy, terrified of every shadow, never knowing what you'll meet around the next corner. In the morning you'll say, "I wish it were evening." In the evening you'll say, "I wish it were morning." Afraid, terrorized at what's coming next, afraid of the unknown, because of the sights you've witnessed. God will ship you back to Egypt by a road I promised you'd never see again. There you'll offer yourselves for sale, both men and women, as slaves to your enemies. And not a buyer to be found.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice,.... The force and power of a language, the signification of it, the ideas its words convey, but only hear the sound of it:

I shall be to him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me: like one of those rude and uncultivated people that inhabit deserts and wild places, who can neither understand the language of others, nor be understood by others; and indeed may be meant of any sort of people, that do not understand one another's language: the word בר, "bar", and ברא, "bara", in the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic languages, not only signifies a field, a wood, or desert place, but also without, or any thing extraneous; and being doubled, signifies one that lives without, in another land; a stranger, and that speaks a strange language; so all other nations of the world were barbarians to the Hebrews, and particularly the Egyptians; see the Targum on Psalms 114:1 and so were all other nations to the Greeks, see Romans 1:14 and also to the Romans: and the sense is, that where the signification of a language and the sense of words are not known, the speaker is like a man that lives in a strange country to him that hears him; and the hearer is like to one that lives in a strange country to him that speaks, since they cannot understand one another. The word sometimes is used for men, αφωνοι η ανκοοι, z, "that can neither speak nor hear", men dumb and deaf; and when words cannot be understood, the case is all one as with such persons.

z Scholia in Aristoph. in Avibus, p. 550.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The meaning of the voice - Of the language that is uttered, or the sounds that are made.

I shall be unto him ... - What I say will be unintelligible to him, and what he says will be unintelligible to me. We cannot understand one another any more than people can who speak different languages.

A barbarian - See the note at Romans 1:14. The word means one who speaks a different, or a foreign language.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 14:11. If I know not the meaning of the voice — την δυναμις της φωνης, The power and signification of the language.

I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian — I shall appear to him, and he to me, as a person who had no distinct and articulate sounds which can convey any kind of meaning. This observation is very natural: when we hear persons speaking in a language of which we know nothing, we wonder how they can understand each other, as, in their speech, there appears to us no regular distinction of sounds or words. For the meaning and origin of the word barbarian, Acts 28:2.