John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 14:10
There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices ,.... לשנא , "tongues", or "languages", as the Syriac version renders it; that is, as many as there are nations in the world; there may be seventy of them, as the Jews say there were at the confusion of languages at Babel; there may be more or less: and none of them is without signification : every language, and every word in a language, has a meaning in it, an idea annexed to it, which it conveys to him that understands it, and that cannot... read more
John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 14:9
So likewise you, unless ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood ,.... This is an accommodation of the foregoing similes to the case in hand: for as unless there is a distinction of notes and tunes, it cannot be music, nor it cannot be known what is piped or harped; and unless the trumpet gives a certain sound, none can know when to prepare himself for the battle; so unless in the public ministry and service a language is spoken, and words made use of, which are understood without... read more