Tongue

tung: Almost invariably for either לשׁון, lāshōn, or γλῶσσα, glṓssa the latter word with the cognates ἑτερόγλωσσος, heteróglōssos, “of strange tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:21), γλωσσώδης, glōssṓdēs, “talkative,” English Versions of the Bible “full of tongue” (Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 8:3; 9:18), γλωσσοτομέω, glōssotoméō, “to cut out the tongue” (2 Maccabees 7:4), δίγλωσσος, díglōssos, “double-tongued” (Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 5:9; 28:13). In 1 Timothy 3:8, however, “double-tongued” is for δίλογος, dílogos, literally, “two-worded.” Where “tongue” in the King James Version translates διάλεκτος, diálektos (Acts 1:19; 2:8; 21:40; 22:2; 26:14), the Revised Version has “language,” while for the King James Version “in the Hebrew tongue” in John 5:2; Revelation 9:11; 16:16 (Ἑβραΐστί, Hebraistí) the Revised Version has simply “in Hebrew.” In addition, in the Old Testament and Apocrypha, the King James Version uses “to hold one’s tongue” as a translation for various verbs meaning “to be silent”; the Revised Version in the Old Testament writes “to hold one’s peace” and in the Apocrypha “to be silent,” except in Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 32:8, where the King James Version is retained (σιωπάω, siōpáō).

The various uses of “tongue” in English are all possible also for lāshōn and glōssa, whether as the physical organ (Exodus 11:7; Mark 7:33, etc.) or as meaning “language” (Genesis 10:5; Acts 2:4, etc.) or as describing anything shaped like a tongue (Isaiah 11:15; Acts 2:3, etc.). In addition, both words, especially las̄hōn appear in a wider range of meanings than can be taken by “tongue” in modern English. So the tongue appears as the specific organ of speech, where we should prefer “mouth” or “lips” (Exodus 4:10; Psalms 71:24; 78:36; Proverbs 16:1; Philippians 2:11, etc.), and hence, “tongue” is used figuratively for the words uttered (Job 6:30; Psalms 139:4; 1 John 3:18, etc.). So the tongue can be said to have moral qualities (Psalms 109:2; Proverbs 15:4, etc.) or to be “glad” (Acts 2:26); to “love with the tongue” (1 John 3:18) is to love in word only, and to be “double-tongued” (Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 5:9; 28:13; 1 Timothy 3:8 is to be a liar. A further expansion of this figurative use has produced expressions that sound slightly bizarre in English, although their meaning is clear enough: e.g., “Who have whet their tongue like a sword” (Psalms 64:3); “His tongue is as a devouring fire” (Isaiah 30:27); “My tongue is the pen of a ready writer” (Psalms 45:1), and, especially, “Their tongue walketh through the earth” (Psalms 73:9).

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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia

Keywords: Tongue, Tongues, Speaking in tongues, Foreign tongue, Glossalia, Glossolalia, Glossolia, Interpreting tongue, Ecstatic language

Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.

Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.