1-Corinthians - 14:17



17 For you most certainly give thanks well, but the other person is not built up.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 1-Corinthians 14:17.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
For thou indeed givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
for thou, indeed, dost give thanks well, but the other is not built up!
For you truly give thanks well, but the other is not edified.
Rightly enough you are giving thanks, and yet your neighbor is not benefited.
For your giving of the blessing is certainly well done, but of no profit to the man without knowledge.
In this case, certainly, you give thanks well, but the other person is not edified.
Your thanksgiving may be excellent, but the other is not helped by it.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

For thou verily givest thanks well - That is, even if you use a foreign language. You do it with the heart; and it is accepted by God as your offering; but the other, who cannot understand it, cannot be benefited by it.

Thou verily givest thanks well - Because he felt gratitude, and, from a sense of his obligation, gave praise to God; but because this was in an unknown tongue, those who heard him received no edification.

For thou verily givest thanks well,.... In very proper words, and pertinent expressions, with great affection and devotion, suitable to the service;
but the other is not edified; the rest of the people, who do not understand the language in which thanks are given; "thy friend", as the Syriac version reads it; or thy next neighbour, he that stands by thee, receives no manner of profit by it, because he does not understand what is said.

givest thanks--The prayers of the synagogue were called "eulogies," because to each prayer was joined a thanksgiving. Hence the prayers of the Christian Church also were called blessings and giving of thanks. This illustrates Colossians 4:2; 1-Thessalonians 5:17-18. So the Kaddisch and Keduscha, the synagogue formulÃ&brvbr; of "hallowing" the divine "name" and of prayer for the "coming of God's kingdom," answer to the Church's Lord's Prayer, repeated often and made the foundation on which the other prayers are built [TERTULLIAN, Prayer].

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