The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (192 page)

14:1-40
Paul gives pastoral direction on spiritual gifts, building upon the theological and ethical foundations laid in chaps. 12-13. He seeks to regulate the Corinthians' undisciplined exercise of charismatic gifts by stressing the need to build up the congregation (14:3-5, 12, 26). As a rule, gifts exercised in public worship must be publicly beneficial; otherwise disorder and confusion will result (14:33, 40). • Vatican II reaffirmed the enduring validity of charismatic gifts. The Council described their function as one of renewing and building up the Church in the Spirit. Following Paul, it also warned that extraordinary charisms should not be rashly desired (
Lumen Gentium
12). 
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14:1 prophesy:
The ability to prophesy is the preferred charismatic gift. It can include the power to predict future events (Acts 11:27-28; 21:10-11) but is primarily the ability to encourage the assembled Church in a powerful way (1 Cor 14:3; Acts 15:32). Prophets can also make the gospel compelling to outside observers (1 Cor 14:24-25). Paul promotes this gift over tongues because prophets can speak to others with clear and understandable words. 
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14:2 speaks in a tongue:
Here viewed as human languages that are unknown and thus "foreign" to the local Church (14:10-11). Interpreting them amounts to translating them (14:5; Acts 2:1-11). 
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14:7-8
Paul compares tongues to musical instruments (14:7) and a military trumpet (14:8). Just as music follows an ordered sequence of notes, and a battle call has a distinctive sound, so the language of tongues has an intelligible meaning in itself. Left untranslated, however, tongues remain incoherent to the congregation, like a string of meaningless noises. 
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14:10 many different languages:
Diversity among human languages can be traced back to the rebellion at the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9). The commercial city of Corinth would be exposed to many foreign dialects, even though its principal language was Greek. 
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14:11 foreigner:
The term is elsewhere translated "barbarian" (Rom 1:14; Col 3:11). Here it refers to someone whose native language is unknown to Greek-speaking Christians. 
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14:14 my mind is unfruitful:
I.e., uninvolved in the heavenly speech. An uninterpreted tongue makes conscious participation in the prayer impossible both for the individual speaking and for the congregation listening. Even so, the gift engages the
spirit
of the worshiper, enabling him to utter "mysteries in the Spirit" (14:2). 
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14:16 "Amen":
A Hebrew expression meaning "So be it!" or "So it is!". It is a traditional response to liturgical prayers (Rev 5:14). See word study:
Amen
at 2 Cor 1. 
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14:20 in thinking be mature:
The Corinthians' preoccupation with tongues was a sign of their immaturity. They should rather seek for themselves the moral innocence of children and the mature judgment of adults (3:1; Eph 4:11-14). 
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14:21 the law:
Refers to the entire OT, not just the Pentateuch (Jn 10:34; 15:25). • Paul paraphrases Is 28:11-12, where the scoffers of Israel mock Isaiah by comparing his prophecies to the unintelligible babble of infants. Isaiah turns their mockery into a warning by saying that Yahweh will rouse foreign armies (Assyria), who speak an alien language, to seek and destroy them (Deut 28:49). This leads Paul to see "tongues" as a "sign" of the judgment that will fall upon sinners (1 Cor 14:22). 
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14:22 unbelievers:
Since this can also be translated "unfaithful", it is uncertain whether Paul is thinking of unbaptized pagans or unfaithful Christians or both.
prophecy is not for unbelievers:
I.e., not
primarily
for unbelievers or the unfaithful. It is foremost a gift to edify the assembled church, although it can benefit visitors and newcomers as well (14:24-25). 
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14:25 God is really among you:
Charismatic prophecy can lead to the conversion of unbelievers who attend a Christian liturgy. • Paul's language recalls OT passages where the Gentiles come to recognize Yahweh as the one true God present among his messianic people (Is 45:14; Zech 8:22-23). 
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14:27-28
Paul gives three pastoral guidelines for speaking in tongues:
(1)
only a few should exercise the gift at each assembly;
(2)
they should speak in sequence, not simultaneously;
(3)
the utterances should be interpreted. Paul assumes that the gift of tongues lies within the control of the recipient, who can keep silent when appropriate. Should the spontaneity of charismatic gifts be allowed to override the structures of the liturgy, they will cause disorder and distraction (14:39-40). 
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14:29 weigh what is said:
Prophecies must be measured against apostolic teaching to ensure their consistency with the whole deposit of faith (Rom 12:6). 
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14:34-35
Paul enjoins
silence
upon Christian
women
in public worship. This is not an absolute restriction, since women can lawfully pray and prophesy in the liturgical assembly (11:5) and are encouraged to teach in other circumstances (Tit 2:3-4). Paul is prohibiting women from instructing the congregation in the official capacity of a pastor or homilist.
See note on 1 Tim 2:12
. 
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14:37 command of the Lord:
Paul is giving, not personal advice, but instruction that in some sense comes directly from Christ (7:10). 
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15:1-58
Paul defends the doctrine of the resurrection against attack and misunderstanding (15:12). Working forward from the Resurrection of Christ, he insists that our bodies will be raised immortal (15:20-23) and glorified for life in heaven (15:35-50). This belief is so important that to deny the resurrection is to destroy the essence of the gospel (15:17-19). 
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15:3-5
A symbol or creed of the Christian faith that is founded on apostolic testimony (CCC 186, 638). Should Paul's readers reject any of these basic tenets of the gospel, their faith will prove "vain" (1 Cor 15:1-2). 
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15:3 I delivered . . . I also received:
Refers to the transmission of oral and liturgical tradition. A similar formula was used in rabbinical schools for the transfer of Jewish tradition from teacher to student from generation to generation.
See note on 1 Cor 11:2
. 
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15:4 he was buried:
This important detail sets the Resurrection of Jesus over against his burial, indicating that his tomb was empty on Easter morning (Jn 20:1-10). The rising of Jesus from the grave is thus proclaimed as a physical and bodily event; it involved much more than the resuscitation of his corpse, but certainly nothing less than this. The Resurrection is a miracle of history that cannot be reduced to a metaphor for new life (CCC 639-40).
the Scriptures:
Belief in a bodily resurrection can be traced back to the OT (CCC 652). • Several passages affirm that the Lord will raise the dead to live again (Is 26:19; Ezek 37:1-14; Dan 12:2; 2 Mac 7:9). Jesus was the first to benefit from these promises in advance of the messianic people united to him. For biblical background on the
third day
motif,
See note on Lk 24:46
. 
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15:5 appeared to Cephas:
Jesus appeared alive to Peter (Lk 24:34) and the rest of the apostles on Easter Sunday (Jn 20:1923). Paul catalogues a total of six appearances (1 Cor 15:5-8), most of which took place within the 40-day interval between the Resurrection and the Ascension (Acts 1:3; CCC 641-42). No mention is made of Christ's appearances to the holy women (Mk 16:1-8), possibly because a woman could not give admissible legal testimony in Jewish tradition. 
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15:6 more than five hundred:
A public appearance mentioned only here in the NT. For Paul, such a large group of eyewitnesses adds to the credibility of the Resurrection, especially since some were still living and could verify the facts. 
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15:7 James:
Known as "James the Lord's brother" (Gal 1:19), a kinsman of Jesus (Mt 13:55) and the first appointed bishop of Jerusalem (Acts 12:17; 15:13). Only here is it stated in Scripture that Christ appeared to him personally.
the apostles:
Probably refers to a wider circle of disciples than the "Twelve" (15:5), as is sometimes the case in the NT (Acts 14:14; 2 Cor 8:23). 
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15:8 appeared also to me:
Paul both saw the risen Christ and received a missionary mandate from him (Acts 9:1-15). His encounter with the resurrected Jesus in visible glory was unique compared with the other apostles, who saw Jesus alive before his Ascension into heaven (CCC 659). Paul felt undeserving of an apostolic mission in light of his former hostility to the Church (1 Cor 15:9; Eph 3:8; 1 Tim 1:15-16). 
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15:12 no resurrection of the dead?:
Such a denial might stem from either a Jewish or a Greek background.
(1
)The Sadducees held a minority view within Judaism that emphatically denied the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:8).
(2
)Among the Greeks it was commonly held that the body was a prison or tomb that was destined to decay once the soul was liberated from it at death (Acts 17:32). Whatever the influence, Corinthian skepticism concerning the future of the body led to a denial of Christian doctrine and a sharp decline in morality (1 Cor 6:12-20; 15:34; CCC 996). 
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15:13 then Christ has not been raised:
Paul exposes the inconsistency of the Corinthians' position: they affirm that Christ is risen (past), yet they deny that Christians will rise again as he did (future). To deny the possibility of the latter is to deny the historicity of the former. 
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