Biblical Tongues Were Known Languages, Not Gibberish

16. When they spoke in tongues in the Bible, they spoke in recognizable languages and not the gibberish we hear today.

While it’s true that several languages were understood on the Day of Pentecost, back in the upper room there was no crowd, and the Galileans would not have understood any of the languages. To them, they would all have been speaking gibberish. Remember, they spoke in OTHER tongues…other than their own. The tongues were unknown until later when the crowd came around.

If you’re going to set yourself up as the tongues police, to declare which are authentic and which are gibberish, then you must be familiar with every language ever known to man. I’ve read that there have been about 500 nations in North America. How many do you suppose were in South America? China? How about Africa? Anyone not familiar will all their languages, is not qualified to call any gibberish.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul devotes almost a whole chapter to “UNKNOWN” tongues (languages that no man understands) and their operation in the New Testament Church. Paul says he will continue to pray with the spirit (unknown tongues) (because it edifies a saint) and with his understanding also. Jude says that praying in the Holy Ghost is how we build ourselves up on our most holy faith.