Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Corinthians 14:13

"Wherefore let him that speaketh in a tongue pray that he may interpret." — 1 Corinthians 14:13 (ASV)

Pray that he may interpret. Let him ask God for the ability to explain it clearly to the church. It would seem probable that the power of speaking foreign languages, and the power of conveying truth in a clear and distinct manner, were not always found in the same person, and that the one did not necessarily imply the other.

The truth seems to have been that these extraordinary endowments of the Holy Spirit were bestowed on men much like ordinary talents and mental powers are now conferred; and that they became, in a similar sense, the characteristic mental endowments of the individual, and of course were subject to the same laws and liable to the same kinds of abuse as mental endowments are now.

And just as it now happens that one man may have a peculiar faculty for acquiring and expressing himself in a foreign language yet may not be at all distinguished for clear enunciation, or capable of conveying his ideas in an interesting manner to a congregation, so it was then.

The apostle therefore directs such people, if any existed, instead of priding themselves on their endowments and instead of always speaking in an unknown tongue (which would be useless to the church), to pray for the more useful gift of being able to convey their thoughts in a clear and intelligible manner in their native language.

This would be useful. Therefore, those who had the power to speak truths with eminent ability in a foreign language ought to desire to be able to interpret them so that they would be intelligible to the people they addressed in the church. This seems to me to be the plain meaning of this passage, which has caused so much perplexity for commentators.

Macknight renders it, however, "Let him who prays in a foreign language, pray so as SOME ONE may interpret;" meaning that he who prayed in a foreign language was to do it by two or three sentences at a time, so that he might be followed by an interpreter. But this is evidently forced.

To do this, it is necessary to suppose that the phrase o lalwn, "that speaks," should be rendered, contrary to its obvious and usual meaning, "who prays," and to supply tis, some one, at the end of the verse. The obvious interpretation is the one given above; and this proceeds only on the supposition that the power of speaking foreign languages and the power of interpreting were not always united in the same person—a supposition that is evidently true, as appears from 1 Corinthians 12:10.