complete verse (1 Corinthians 14:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 14:11:

  • Uma: “But if there is a person who speaks to us and we don’t know the meaning of his language, we will certainly think he is just babbling [lit., uttering randomly]. So also if we speak to him, he’ll say we are babbling.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “But if there is a person speaking to me but I don’t know his language, he is like a foreigner to me and I also am like a foreigner to him, we (excl.) don’t understand each other.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “But if someone speaks to me and I don’t understand what he’s saying, it’s not possible for us to go around together because we don’t understand each other.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But if I don’t understand the language/words of the one I am-talking-with, surely I will consider him a stranger/foreigner and that also will be how-he -considers me.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “But if I don’t know the language of the person I’m talking to, and as for him, he also doesn’t know my language, how can we understand each other?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But if some person speaks to me and he speaks a word which I do not hear, then it is like a person from a foreign country speaks to me because we cannot talk together with the words we speak.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

barbarian

The Greek that is transliterated as “barbarian” in English is translated in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) with a sign that combines a nomads tent and “submission to authority.” “The idea of barbarians that we have today is different from the reality described historically. They were a nomadic people and were submissive to the cultures and languages to which they were subjugated, and were not as violent as the Scythians.” (Source: Aline Martins and Paul Fahnestock)


“Barbarian” in Libras (source )

More information on Barbarian .

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:11

Paul continues to draw an illustration from natural languages in order to show the danger of speaking ecstatically. In many languages this first sentence will need to be rendered as “If I do not understand the language that a person is speaking.”

Foreigner: this is the Greek word from which the English “barbarian” is derived. However, here it refers to someone whose language cannot be understood rather than to a wild or fierce person.

For the last two clauses Revised Standard Version follows the order of the Greek, while Good News Bible reverses the order. At least in English, Good News Bible‘s ordering is more logical: if someone is speaking in a language that I do not understand, the immediate effect is that I shall consider him a foreigner. The fact that he will also consider me a foreigner comes later. Even though they may understand each other when using normal speech, when they speak in strange tongues they are like foreigners to each other.

For Good News Bible‘s use of plural forms, see the introduction to this section.

To me is literally “in me,” meaning “in my sight” or “in my opinion.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .