1 Corinthians 14:17

17 Rightly enough you are giving thanks, and yet your neighbor is not benefited.

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 How then does the matter stand? I will pray in spirit, and I will pray with my understanding also. I will praise God in spirit, and I will praise Him with my understanding also.

16 Otherwise, if you bless God in spirit only, how shall he who is in the position of an ungifted man say the `Amen' to your giving of thanks, when he does not know what your words mean?

17 Rightly enough you are giving thanks, and yet your neighbor is not benefited.

18 I speak in a tongue, thank God, more than all of you;

19 but in the Church I would rather speak five words with my understanding--so as to instruct others also--than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.