Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Corinthians 14:9

"So also ye, unless ye utter by the tongue speech easy to understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye will be speaking into the air." — 1 Corinthians 14:9 (ASV)

Paul now gives some vivid illustrations. The flute and the harp were wellknown and valued musical instruments in Greece, and the Jews would be acquainted with the music of temple worship. But music is nothing more than senseless sounds without systematic differences in pitch, tone, and time. Everyone in Corinth would understand the necessity of the trumpet’s call to battle (cf. Numbers 10:9; Joshua 6:4, 9). Applying the illustrations, Paul says that it is not the mere sound of speaking that is important, but whether the sounds can be understood by the hearers.