Tongues Of Angels

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It is written:

1 Corinthians 13:1-Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

What does Paul mean by the phrase “tongues of angels?”

Let’s study.

The context of 1 Corinthians 13 deals with the subject of how the Christians at Corinth were misusing their miraculous spiritual gifts during the worship assembly. Beginning in chapter 10 and going through chapter 16, Paul deals specifically with matters of abuses in the worship services of the assembly of the church. Chapters 10 and 11 deal with issues of disorderliness in the teaching, preaching, and prayer in the assembly, as well as problems during the Lord’s Supper. Chapters 10-14 deal with the subject of the miraculous gifts (including tongues), while chapters 15 and 16 address public false teaching regarding the resurrection of the dead and the continuing work of the church in giving, benevolence, and evangelism.

In chapters 1214, Paul’s discussion about “tongues” draws central stage as these are matters which the church especially is struggling with. We will draw attention to the following subjects as we carefully study this passage.

First, we will look at what the overall context teaches us about the subject of the gift of tongues.

Second, we will consider the meaning of the phrase “tongues of angels,” and what its’s significance is to the discourse that Paul is making.

Finally, we will consider what applications may be drawn from the study especially the “tongues of angels.”

Tongues In 1 Corinthians

The subject of tongues is extremely important within Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians. The word “tongue” is found eight times in chapter fourteen (1 Corinthians 14:2, 4, 9, 13, 14, 19, 26, 27) and the plural “tongues” is mentioned numerous times as well (1 Corinthians 12:10, 28, 30; 13:1, 8; 14:5, 6, 18, 21, 22, 23, 39). Several factors help us to understand the meaning of the word “tongues” in these texts.

First, the word translated as “tongues” is itself the Greek word “glossa.” This word has several meanings from an etymological point of view.

“1. glōssa (γλω̑σσα, 1100) is used of (1) the “tongues. . . like as of fire” which appeared at Pentecost; (2) “the tongue,” as an organ of speech, e.g., Mark 7: 33; Rom. 3: 13; 14: 11; 1 Cor. 14: 9; Phil. 2: 11; Jas. 1: 26; 3: 5, 6, 8; 1 Pet. 3: 10; 1 John 3: 18; Rev. 16: 10; (3) (a) “a language,” coupled with phulē, “a tribe,” laos, “a people,” ethnos, “a nation,” seven times in the Apocalypse, 5: 9; 7: 9; 10: 11; 11: 9; 13: 7; 14: 6; 17: 15; (b) “the supernatural gift of speaking in another language without its having been learnt”; in Acts 2: 4–13 the circumstances are recorded from the viewpoint of the hearers; to those in whose language the utterances were made it appeared as a supernatural phenomenon; to others, the stammering of drunkards; what was uttered was not addressed primarily to the audience but consisted in recounting “the mighty works of God”; cf. 2: 46; in 1 Cor., chapters 12 and 14, the use of the gift of “tongues” is mentioned as exercised in the gatherings of local churches; 12: 10 speaks of the gift in general terms, and couples with it that of “the interpretation of tongues”; chapt. 14 gives instruction concerning the use of the gift, the paramount object being the edification of the church; unless the “tongue” was interpreted the speaker would speak “not unto men, but unto God,” v. 2; he would edify himself alone, v. 4, unless he interpreted, v. 5, in which case his interpretation would be of the same value as the superior gift of prophesying, as he would edify the church, vv. 4–6; he must pray that he may interpret, v. 13; if there were no interpreter, he must keep silence, v. 28, for all things were to be done “unto edifying,” v. 26. “If I come . . . speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you,” says the apostle (expressing the great object in all oral ministry), “unless I speak to you either by way of revelation, or of knowledge, or of prophesying, or of teaching?” (v. 6). “Tongues” were for a sign, not to believers, but to unbelievers, v. 22, and especially to unbelieving Jews (see v. 21): cf. the passages in the Acts. There is no evidence of the continuance of this gift after apostolic times nor indeed in the later times of the apostles themselves; this provides confirmation of the fulfillment in this way of 1 Cor. 13: 8, that this gift would cease in the churches, just as would “prophecies” and “knowledge” in the sense of knowledge received by immediate supernatural power (cf. 14: 6). The completion of the Holy Scriptures has provided the churches with all that is necessary for individual and collective guidance, instruction, and edification.” (W.E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words: With Topical Index (Word Study), 968 (Kindle Edition): Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

Second, there are several other Scriptures and factors which make it clear that the miraculous gift of tongues was the ability of a person in the first century to speak a foreign language without having previously studied it. We see this clearly, for example, in the second chapter of the Book of Acts:

Acts 2:4-12-And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5  And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6  And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7  Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8  And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9  Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10  Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11  Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” 12  So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

Not only does this passage clearly show that the tongues were foreign languages which a person spoke, but the interchangeability of the “tongues” (glossa) with “languages” (dialecto) here in Acts 2 add another evidence of this fact.

“Tongue   The Greek word here is the same as what is found in verse 6—dialectos, the common Greek word for “language.” So it definitely should be translated “language” here. In the Greek we have glōssais, “tongues,” in verses 4 and 11, and dialectō, “language,” in verses 6 and 8. This proves conclusively that the speak ing in tongues (v. 4) was not ecstatic utterance but speaking in known, intelligent languages of that day (see v. 11).” (Ralph Earl, Word Meanings In The New Testament, 4107 (Kindle Edition); Kansas City, Kansas; Beacon Hill Press).

Third, notice the connection between “tongues” with other nations:

Revelation 7:9-After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

Revelation 10:11-And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

Revelation 11:9-Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.

Revelation 17:15-Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.

Finally, observe that Paul (in 1 Corinthians 14) tells us plainly that the “tongues” being spoken at the church in Corinth were human languages:

1 Corinthians 14:21-In the law it is written: “WITH MEN OF OTHER TONGUES AND OTHER LIPS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE; AND YET, FOR ALL THAT, THEY WILL NOT HEAR ME,” says the Lord.

The Corinthians were abusing this miraculous gift by not allowing it to edify the entire church. Paul gives an example:

1 Corinthians 14:23-Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

If an unbeliever from another country came to the church assembly and everyone was speaking at the same time in the languages of other nationalities in a chaotic gibberish, he would think that everyone in the church was out of their minds. So Paul says that unless there is someone in the church present who has the miraculous gift of interpretation (translating the foreign language into a dialect that everyone can understand), then the tongue speakers are to keep silent.

1 Corinthians 14:27-32-If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. 28  But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. 29  Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. 30  But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. 31  For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 32  And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

The “Tongues Of Angels” In Context

Tucked in-between chapters 12 and 14 of 1 Corinthians, the great “love chapter” of the Bible is found. 1 Corinthians 13 shows us what is more important than all of the miraculous gifts: the way of love.

In 1 Corinthians 12:31, Paul had declared that he would show them a “more excellent way” (NKJV). He is going to show the Christians there the “best thing to do” (GW), or “the best way of all” (ISV). Indeed, the way Paul teaches would be a more excellent way, “one that is better by far and the highest of them all-love” (Amplified). In fact, this way is “better by far” (Williams, NLT), and a “way beyond comparison” (NLT).

Love is what was sorely needed at Corinth, just as it is sorely needed in churches today. Paul begins his introduction to “love” by showing how love is superior to the miraculous gift of tongues. Notice that Paul says even if he spoke with the tongues of men and of angels, and didn’t have love-he would be as “sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”

So, what are the tongues of angels?

Some have suggested that this is simply another designation for the languages of human beings. However, that seems unlikely since the “tongues of angels” are set in contrast to the “tongues of men.” Paul seems to list them as two separate categories.

With that in mind, it is interesting to learn that there are other references to “tongues of angels” outside of the New Testament. Indeed, many of these references are from Second Temple Jewish writings. The Second Temple Jewish writings span the time from the creation of Zerubbabel (520 B.C.) to the opening of the New Testament era.

Michael Heiser provides the following for us:

“The esoteric language option has more precedent than the Hebrew explanation. The last eight chapters (46–53) of the Testament of Job, a pseudepigraphical text that scholars date as early as the first century BC, describes the daughters of Job singing with angelic tongues. 38 These chapters describe a gift from Job to his daughters of three golden boxes, inside each of which were shimmering, multicolored cords, which the patriarch referred to as “amulets” of the Father (Testament of Job 47: 11). After the daughters complain about the apparent uselessness of the gift, Job tells them, “Not only shall you gain a living from these, but these cords will lead you into the better world, to live in the heavens” (Testament of Job 47: 2b–3). 39 When one of Job’s daughters decides to adorn her amulet, “she took on another heart—no longer minded toward earthly things—but she spoke ecstatically in the angelic dialect, sending up a hymn to God in accord with the hymnic style of the angels” (Testament of Job 48: 2–3). The other two daughters have similar experiences, speaking “the dialect of the archons” (Testament of Job 49: 2) and “the dialect of the cherubim” (Testament of Job 50: 2). As Poirier has observed, the passage has garnered a good deal of attention from New Testament scholars in regard to Paul’s reference to angelic tongues. Interestingly, the three successive dialects appear to denote heavenly rank in ascending order toward the divine presence (angel → archon → cherubim). 40 This observation is in accord with merkabah mysticism, where angels of ascending class are encountered in ascents through levels of heaven. 41 The fact that the amulets that were to be worn came in golden boxes (and were thus “connected” with them) is also significant. As Poirier comments: Golden girdles are standard angelic wear throughout apocalyptic literature. Gold symbolized the divine throughout the Mediterranean world. Moreover, golden girdles were also associated with inspired unintelligible speech. 42 Poirier marshals a number of examples in this regard from a range of sources. For example, in Daniel 10: 5, the divine man who speaks to Daniel wears a sash of gold, quite similar to the angel in the Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6: 12 who speaks to the prophet. The twenty-four elders of Revelation wear golden crowns (Rev 4: 4, 10), as does another divine man in Revelation 14: 14.43 There are other allusions to angelic language (occasionally mentioning “angelic wear”) in Second Temple and early Christian literature that is not human in nature. 44 In the Apocalypse of Zephaniah 8: 2–4, we read: Thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads of angels gave praise before me. I, myself, put on an angelic garment. I saw all of those angels praying. I, myself, prayed together with them, I knew their language, which they spoke with me. 45 The Ascension of Isaiah 6–11 contains several instances of non-human angelic languages. In this pseudepigraphical text, the prophet is transported to the seventh heaven, where he is able to praise God with the angels (“ my praise was like theirs”) and read books they had composed regarding the deeds of the children of Jerusalem,” books “not like the books of this world” (Ascension of Isaiah 7; 9: 20–23, 27–32). 46 A similar scene occurs in the Apocalypse of Abraham 15: 2–7, where Abraham is taken to the seventh heaven and angelic creatures—whose form was in some respects human (though they changed shapes)—are crying out in a language he does not know. Like Isaiah, Abraham later is able to participate in the angelic praise. In my opinion, the esoteric-language explanation carries more weight. The Jubilees material requires the assumption that angels are in view. Jubilees 12: 25 actually speaks of the original language in regard to “the sons of men,” not angels. This is not the case with the esoteric angelic language idea; several texts assign a non-human tongue explicitly to angels. 2 Corinthians 12: 1–7 may also add weight to this determination, depending on how it is read. In Paul’s description of being transported to the heavens, he writes: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. (2 Cor 12: 2–4) Does the statement in verse 4 mean that Paul could not understand the language? If so, Hebrew as the language of heaven is decisively ruled out. Paul could mean, however, that he felt forbidden to relate what he heard—that it was inappropriate for humans to convey such conversations. This latter possibility would be odd, given the numerous angelic conversations in the Bible and other Second Temple literature Paul would have had access to, so his experience may be more coherently understood as his hearing an unintelligible angelic language. But if this is the case, then his statement in 1 Corinthians 13: 1 (the same audience as in 2 Corinthians) is merely hypothetical. “If I speak with the tongues of men and angels” would not mean that Paul did speak in an esoteric angelic language. The idea would be that, even if he could and lacked love, that ability would mean nothing.” (Michael S. Heiser, Angels: What the Bible Really Says About God’s Heavenly Host, 166-169 (Kindle Edition): Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press)

So a strong case can be made that shows that the “tongues of angels” are different from the “tongues of men.”

Application Of The “Tongues Of Angels” For Today

Some claim that these “tongues of angels” have reference to the gibberish speaking which goes on in modern day denominational churches. However, that is clearly not the case.

First, as noted already, the “tongues of men” that were being practiced at Corinth were human languages which the speaker had not previously studied and learned.

Second, the tongues of 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 had to have an interpreter before the Christians could use that gift. Without such a translator present, the tongues were not to be employed.

Third, the “gibberish speaking” so prevalent charismatic churches today was widespread in pagan religions of the first century world, which were under demonic control and influence.

“The 1972 study by John P. Kildahl “The Psychology of Speaking in Tongues” concludes that: “… from a linguistic point of view, religiously inspired glossolalic utterances have the same general characteristics as those that are not religiously inspired.” In fact, glossolalia is a “human phenomenon, not limited to Christianity nor even to religious behavior.” (Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements by Spittler, P. 340). George Jennings in an article in the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation expands upon the universality of the experience: “… glossolalia is practiced among the following non-Christian religions of the world; the Peyote cult among the North American Indians, the Haida Indians of the Pacific Northwest, Shamans in the Sudan, the Shango cult of the West Coast of Africa, the Shago cult in Trinidad, the Voodoo cult in Haiti, the Aborigines of South American and Australia, the aboriginal peoples of the subarctic regions of North America and Asia, the Shamans in Greenland, the Dyaks of Borneo, the Zor cult of Ethiopia, the Siberian shamans, the Chaco Indians of South America, the Curanderos of the Andes, the Kinka in the African Sudan, the Thonga shamans of Africa, and the Tibetan monks. An article in the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation entitled “An Ethnological Study of Glossolalia” by George J. Jennings, March 1968. Other studies and sources reach the same conclusions: “Summary of Behavioral Science Research Data on Glossolalia: 1. Glossolalia is an ancient and widespread phenomenon of most societies, occurring most usually in connection with religion.” “Behavioral Science Research on the Nature of Glossolalia”, Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation; September, 1968 “There are records of ecstatic speech and the like in Egypt in the eleventh century B.C. In the Hellenistic [Greek] world the prophetess of Delphi and the Sibylline priestess spoke in unknown or unintelligible speech. Moreover, the Dionysianrites contained a trancelike state as well as glossolalia. Many of the magicians and sorcerers of the first century world exhibit similar phenomena.” G.R.Osborne, in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 1984, page 1100. “Descriptions of ecstatic speech are common in the study of comparative religions…. The Delphic and Pythian religions of Greece understood ecstatic behavior and speech to be evidence of divine inspiration by Apollos.” C.M. Robeck, Jr., in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, 1988, page 872. “… Glossolalia is a very ancient practice it is still practiced nowadays in many religions, especially those where one seeks contact with the spirit world (witchcraft/ shamanism, voodoo) or a union mystical with the “All”. Mohamed, the founder of Islam, is probably the most famous of those who have practiced glossolalia.” “Glossolalia (Tongues) and 1 Corinthians 14” Bruno D. Granger http:// http://www.apologetique.org/ en/ rticles/ neomontanism/ BDG_glossolalia_en.htm “Enthusiastic, ecstatic, mystic, possession, trance and other kindred phenomena have long been of interest to anthropologists. Cross-cultural reviews of ethnographic data on glossolalia in particular have been published by L.C. May, Jennings, M. Eliade, among others. The practice was known in ancient India and China, and ethnographies describe glossolalia in almost every area of the world… speaking-in-tongues is widespread and very ancient.” E. Mansell Pattison Behavioral Science Research On The Nature Of Glossolalia Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, September 1968 Research conducted by Al Carlson at the University of California and Werner Cohn at the University of British Columbia indicate that anyone can produce glossolalic speech which sounded genuine even to believers. Jimmy Jividen, “Glossolalia: from God or man?” p 163. “This survey has shown that speaking-in-tongues is widespread and very ancient. Indeed, it is probably that as long as man has had divination, curing, sorcery, and propitiation of spirits, he has had glossolalia … Whatever the explanation, it is clear that pagans as well as Christians have their glossolalia experiences.” Jimmy Jividen, “Glossolalia: from God or man?” p 74,75.” (C. Alan Martin, Scientific Observations of Speaking in Tongues, 437-516 (Kindle Edition))

Third,, please notice that Paul says this scenario of “tongues of angels” is a hypothetical situation that he is using to make his point. In essence, he is saying, “Even if I could speak in every language-human and angel-it wouldn’t make any difference if I didn’t have love!”

“Charismatics often point to Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 13: 1, where he mentions angelic tongues. Invariably, they want to claim that the gibberish we hear in charismatic glossolalia is an otherworldly tongue—some sort of holy, heavenly language that transcends human conversation and belongs to the discourse of angels. Beyond being an insult to angels, that interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13: 1 falls flat when one considers the context. Notice, first of all, that Paul’s theme in 1 Corinthians 13 is love, not spiritual gifts. And he introduces the subject this way: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” Paul is describing a hypothetical scenario. (His subsequent examples in verses 2–3 indicate Paul was using extreme illustrations and hyperbolic language to emphasize the value of love.) 30 He did not lack love; he is asking the Corinthians to imagine if he did. Likewise, he is not claiming he had the ability to speak angelic languages; he is supposing the imaginary case of someone who could do so, but who spoke without love—without concern for the edification of others. His conclusion? The result would be of no more use than mere noise.” (John MacArthur, Strange Fire: The Danger of Offending the Holy Spirit with Counterfeit Worship, 147 (Kindle Edition): Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson)

Finally, this study on the “tongues of angels” reminds us that what we need in church assemblies today is a loving return to and application of the Word of God. While the miraculous gifts have ceased (1 Corinthians 13:8-13), the way of love remains “the most excellent way.”

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.