1 Corinthians 14:20

1 Corinthians 14:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
• New International Version (NIV)Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.

Context of 1 Corinthians 14:20

18I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you, 19but in the church I want to speak five words with my mind to instruct others, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking. Instead, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21It is written in the law: “By people with strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, yet not even in this way will they listen to me,” says the Lord. 22So then, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers.

1 Corinthians 14:20 word by word

Ἀδελφοί, μὴ παιδία γίνεσθε ταῖς φρεσίν, ἀλλὰ τῇ κακίᾳ νηπιάζετε, ταῖς δὲ φρεσὶν τέλειοι γίνεσθε.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Brethrenἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
• beγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• notμήmē · notG3361
• childrenπαιδίονpaidion · childG3813
• in understandingὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• in understandingφρήνphrēn · thinkingG5424
• howbeitἀλλάalla · butG235
• in maliceκακίαkakia · evilG2549
• be ye childrenνηπιάζωnēpiazō · be childlikeG3515
• butδέde · thenG1161
• menτέλειοςteleios · perfectG5046

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 14:20

• 1 Corinthians 3:1So, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
• 1 Corinthians 13:11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways.
• Psalms 119:99I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your rules.
• Isaiah 11:3He will take delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by mere appearances, or make decisions on the basis of hearsay.
• Romans 16:19Your obedience is known to all and thus I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
• Ephesians 4:14So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes.
• Philippians 1:9And I pray this, that your love may abound even more and more in knowledge and every kind of insight
• Hebrews 5:12For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food.
• Hebrews 6:1Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God,
• 2 Peter 3:18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on that eternal day.
• Psalms 131:1O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor do I have a haughty look. I do not have great aspirations, or concern myself with things that are beyond me.
• Matthew 11:25At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.
• Matthew 18:3and said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!
• Matthew 19:4He answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female,
• Mark 10:15I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
• 1 Peter 2:2And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation,

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 14:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Be not children in understanding - There are three words here to which we must endeavor to affix the proper sense. 1. signifies children in general, but particularly such as are grown up, so as to be fit to send to school in order to receive instruction; 2. , from , not, and , I speak, signifies an infant; one that cannot yet speak, and is in the lowest stage of infancy; 3. , from , I complete or perfect, signifies those who are arrived at perfect…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Brethren, be not children in understanding - Be not childish; do not behave like little children. They admire, and are astonished at what is striking, novel, and what may be of no real utility. They are pleased with anything that will amuse them, and at little things that afford them play and pastime. So your admiration of a foreign language and of the ability to speak it, is of as little solid value as the common sports and plays of boys. This, says…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-25Verses 15-25 There can be no assent to prayers that are not understood. A truly Christian minister will seek much more to do spiritual good to men's souls, than to get the greatest applause to himself. This is proving himself the servant of Christ. Children are apt to be struck with novelty; but do not act like them. Christians should be like children, void of guile and malice; yet they should not be unskilful as to the word of righteousness, but only as…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20To understand these matters maturely, consider the purpose of spiritual gifts. Do not treat them as ends for personal enjoyment.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Brethren--an appellation calculated to conciliate their favorable reception of his exhortation. children in understanding--as preference of gifts abused to nonedification would make you (compare 1Co 3:1; Mt 10:16; Ro 16:19; Ep 4:14). The Greek for "understanding" expresses the will of one's spirit, Ro 8:6 (it is not found elsewhere); as the "heart" is the will of the "soul." The same Greek is used for "minded" in Ro 8:6. men--full-grown. Be childlike…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 14:20

• Children
• Commandments
• Language
• Malice
• Preaching
• Righteous
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Child
• Confusion
• Desire
• Edification
• Except
• Pipe
• Profit
• Tongues, Gift of
• Babe
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings