1 Corinthians 14:17

17 You may offer a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving, but the other person is not being built up.

1 Corinthians 14:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 14:17

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.

1 Corinthians 14:17 In-Context

15 What should I do? I'll pray in the Spirit, but I'll pray with my mind too; I'll sing a psalm in the Spirit, but I'll sing the psalm with my mind too.
16 After all, if you praise God in the Spirit, how will the people who aren't trained in that language say "Amen!" to your thanksgiving, when they don't know what you are saying?
17 You may offer a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving, but the other person is not being built up.
18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.
19 But in the church I'd rather speak five words in my right mind than speak thousands of words in a tongue so that I can teach others.
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