1 Corinthians 13:1

Probably Paul began with tongues because of the Corinthians’ fascination with this gift (cf. ch. 14). That is where the problem lay. He also built to a climax in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 moving from the less to the more difficult actions. Evidently Paul used the first person because the Corinthians believed that they did speak with the tongues of men and of angels (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:14-15).

Speaking with the tongues of men and angels does not refer to simple eloquence, as the context makes clear (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Corinthians 12:28; 1 Corinthians 12:30). The tongues of men probably refer to languages humans speak. The tongues of angels probably refer to the more exalted and expressive language with which angels communicate with one another. They may refer to languages unknown to humans, namely, ecstatic utterance. However throughout this whole discussion of the gift of tongues there is no evidence that Paul regarded tongues as anything but languages. Throughout the whole New Testament, "tongues" means languages. [Note: See Lowery, "1 Corinthians," pp. 537-38.]

Of course humans do not know the language of the angels, but it is an exalted language because angels are superior beings. The Corinthians evidently believed that they could speak in angelic languages. Some writers have concluded that "tongues of angels" is part of the hyperbole that appears in 1 Corinthians 13:2. [Note: E.g., ibid., p. 535; Keener, p. 108.] That is, there is really no such thing as angelic tongues; the phrase simple depicts exalted speech. Paul’s point seems to have been that even if one could speak in this exalted language and did not have love (i.e., act lovingly) his or her speech would be hollow and empty. To act lovingly, of course, means to seek actively the benefit of someone else. Gongs and cymbals were common in some of the popular pagan cults of the time. [Note: Bruce, 1 and 2 Corinthians, p. 125; Barclay, The Letters . . ., p. 131; Robertson and Plummer, p. 289.] They made much noise but no sense. Some so-called tongues-speakers today claim that their gibberish is the language of angels, but it needs to be interpreted coherently to qualify as a language. Usually this claim is just a way to justify speaking gibberish.