1 Corinthians 14:8

1Co_14:8-9

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle.

Uncertain sounds

There are many sounds in nature which are uncertain and yet pleasing. The murmur of the winds among the leaves of the forests; the soft, regular lapse of the waves on the sandy shore; the roar of Niagara, confused with the cry of blended and intertangled voices, as though every particle of water in falling uttered its own wail of grief or shout of exultation or scream of fear; the hum of insects on a summers day; all such sounds are uncertain. Yet all awaken in us some feeling, convey some sentiment. The murmuring voices of nature seem to express longing and aspiration; they sound almost like prayer and praise. These voices of nature, therefore, though uncertain, are often full of expression. But of mans voice we require more. We ask that it shall be distinct and clear; that it shall convey meaning; that it shall not darken counsel with vague utterance. To speak plainly, distinctly, with precision, is one of the first accomplishments to be studied, and one of the last to be fully attained. Education begins and ends in telling us how to express ourselves; for the word, in ancient languages, means not only utterance, but also the reason which lies behind utterance. My friend gives himself to me in his speech. If his speech is obscure, perplexed, uncertain, vague, then he is not in it. But a fulness of thought and life makes language very clear. That is why we like simple, direct, straightforward talk. It is sincere, it is moral. Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, says Jesus; for whatsoever is more than this cometh of evil. Uncertain sounds, inexact expressions, extravagant utterances, come of evil. They mean that the speaker cares more for effect than for truth. Perhaps the most uncertain sounds of all are the words of a politician. Politics, the government of a state, the laws which affect a nation, ought to be the most elevating of pursuits. But it is like religion or art or poetry. They ennoble those who give themselves to them with sincerity and love; but make a trade of them, and they degrade to the utmost. Make a trade of religion, and you become a hypocrite. Make a trade of art, and you become a charlatan. One of the remarkable exploits of Abraham Lincoln was that he expressed himself so as to be understood. His healthy Saxon English dispelled the miasma of falsehood which hung over Washington. And one of Plutarchs men talked with you, face to face. A clear, distinct meaning is so important in a speaker that it is of itself almost enough. An audience will listen very willingly to a man who makes himself perfectly plain, even if he does nothing else. He need not be rhetorical, he need use no figures of speech, no captivating oratorical arts; he need not be original or profound. Let him only be clear--that of itself is satisfactory. In religion, especially, we want no uncertain sounds. What all men need, what all men long for, is certainty. We need to know; not merely to speculate, not merely to think, to hope, to wish, to fancy; we need to know. Now the difference between Christianity and speculation is simply this--that speculation, by its very nature, gives an uncertain sound; but Christianity gives certainty. Speculation gives us thoughts about God, Christianity gives us the knowledge of God. I once read a lecture by an able writer, in which Christ and Socrates were compared, rather to the disadvantage of the former. Socrates was considered to be, on the whole, rather the stronger and more manly person of the two. But, if so, why did he not do more? Socrates produced a school in philosophy; Christ makes a religion for mankind. One gave thought, the other life. The life of Socrates is known to a few scholars, the life of Jesus is known to millions. The words of Jesus bring strength, comfort, purity, peace; not to students only, but to the ignorant, the lowly, the fallen, the desolate. Why this immense difference in the work of the two teachers? Because the words of the one give an uncertain sound, those of the other a certain sound. One teaches us how to speculate, to conjecture, and to think about the realities of eternity; the other lets us look into the realities themselves, face to face. Striking opinions, noble speculations, came by Socrates, but truth itself came by Jesus Christ. The power--the undying power--of Christianity is that it is everywhere a new revelation of the eternal truth and love of God; that it continually makes souls alive; that it continually renews itself in renewed souls. Therefore it can never grow old, any more than birth, marriage, death, love, can grow old. These have been in the world since the beginning, but they always come as new as at first. And Christianity, appealing ever to new hearts, reforming manners, curing sinners, saving the lost, kindling the soul with faith, hope, and love, is the one certain sound in the world, never vague, never confused. Theology is uncertain; speculation is uncertain; creeds are uncertain; but Christianity is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. (Jas Freeman Clarke.)

The ministerial trumpet giving an uncertain sound

I. The battle. In every battle you must suppose two parties. Ever since the fall there always have been two parties. In the first family Cain was on the one side and Abel on the other. And so it was after the flood--it was so in the patriarchial ages, the Mosaical dispensation, and when Christ appeared on the earth, and up to this very moment. Sometimes efforts are made to multiply these divisions--the righteous on the one hand, and the wicked on the other, with different gradations. But the lip of truth says, He that is not with Me is against Me. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. There are but two parties--the people of God and the people against God and with the devil. The two armies are in combat. What constitutes the sorest point is this--they have separate interests, feelings, hopes, ambitions. The grand interest of the people of God is the glory of their Redeemer in the salvation of their souls; the other party are for their own glory. One man belongs to the party because he loves pleasure, another man because he loves power and influence, another because he loves money, another because he is the slave of some lust. But, however these regiments have a little distinction in their facings, they have but one heart, one spirit, one interest!

2. Some people say, There is no need of a battle. Cannot the irreligious and the people of God go on comfortably and happy, and let each other alone? No; the people of God must beseech all those who are not His people to be reconciled to God. The great commander on one side is Christ, and on the other the devil; but let the hordes of Satan do their best, Christ must conquer.

II. The meaning of the sentence, if the trumpet give an uncertain sound. There can be no doubt that the trumpet means the gospel ministry. The gospel minister is to warn men lest they peril and eventually ruin their souls, and to press them to secure the eternal happiness which is offered them, drawing the telling conclusion, What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? But the blessed trumpet is not only a trumpet of warning, but is a trumpet of welcome to Calvarys cross, to the fountain for sin and all uncleanness. The trumpet gives an uncertain sound, therefore, if it does not state--

1. Mans entire inability.

2. Completely and fully the work of Christ.

3. The holiness of the gospel.

4. If firings of confessedly minor importance, Church government, discipline, etc., have an undue importance. (H. Allon, D. D.)

The worthlessness of mere sounds, apart from their meaning

The apostle speaks of the lute, the harp, the trumpet. Concerning this last instrument it was most of all important that the meaning of its tones should be understood. For now, just as the trumpet had its special function in pealing forth distinct, definite sounds, so all things in the economy of nature, of human life, and of Christian life, have their precise and exact function, on the right discharge of which vast results--results often comparable to those of a gigantic war--are depending.

I. The principle here indicated. It is not far to seek--

1. In what we may term our a priori argument, concerning a Divinely ordered universe. Since all events are related to each other in the mighty chain of cause and effect, we should expect that the failure of any link would involve disastrous results. There are many voices in nature--every law is a voice--and none of them is without signification. Uncertainty in the sound of any of them would be scarcely less evil than silence. So, too, with every atom and every event, as well as every law.

2. In the history of human affairs. On every hand, in our march along the great highways of time, or our research in its quieter by-ways, we confront instances of the momentousness of a right fulfilment by the man, or the institution, or the nation, of the precise mission devolving on such man, or institution, or nation. An uncertain sound at some given epoch, and the course of all succeeding history, would have been changed.

II. Some practical applications of this principle. It is true in regard--

1. To the discharge of Christian activities. There are multiform methods of philanthropic activity; never so many as to-day. Each one of us has his special adaptation for the use of such methods, just as each method has its peculiar adaptation to some need. If those who are qualified to teach, do not instruct; to console, do not comfort; to contrive, do not organise, who shall? Some tone on the trumpet of truth depends on you. If you refrain, or hesitate, or yield uncertain sounds, who shall prepare for the day of battle?

2. To Christian giving. The gold, the silver, the copper has to be given, each metal, as it were, making its own music. Withhold just what, by claim and capacity, you ought to have given, and there is an uncertain sound, and that uncertain sound means beggary here, discouragement yonder, and hopeless inanition elsewhere. Nay, the very spirit of the giving may make all the difference, for is not the sounding brass and tinkling cymbal--which is gift without love--an uncertain sound?

3. To prayers. Who can tell the mischief of uncertain sounds here in a region where Moses and Elijah were so mighty?

4. Of every life. Each life is trumpet-tongued with the message of truth or error, good or ill. Silence is impossible. Uncertainty is failure, for it misleads and bewilders. Minister, parent, teacher, if your life gives an uncertain sound who shall prepare your people, your family, your class for battle?--the battle for which music prepares, and which will be succeeded by yet nobler and sweeter music. As Bishop Webb says, You are yourself; none of you are like your fellows. And you are what you are by Gods arrangement, because you have a certain part to play in Gods providence, in the history of the world, and the development of the body of Christ. God the Holy Ghost is brooding over you as the great musician. He can bring out the music that is wanted. He can enable you to furnish some strain that would be lacking in the ears of God if you did not bring it, if you did not strike your string, nor touch your key. (U. R. Thomas.)

The responsibility of the pulpit

I. Its power.

1. To warn.

2. Arouse.

3. Direct.

4. Encourage.

II. Its inefficiency. No certain sound through want of--

1. Plainness.

2. Clearness.

3. Point.

4. Spiritual power.

III. Diastrous result.

1. None prepares.

2. Destruction comes.

3. The unfaithful watchman must bear the responsibility. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to he understood, how shall it be known what is spokes?--

Plain preaching

I. What it implies.

1. Not vulgarity.

2. But a plain statement of the truth in easy words.

II. Its necessity.

1. Many are very ignorant.

2. Some will not take the trouble to understand what costs them effort.

3. All are more accessible to plain truth.

4. God will have all the glory.

III. Its importance.

1. Souls imperilled.

2. The preacher incurs a tremendous responsibility. (J. Lyth, D. D.)

Need of plain preaching

A lady went one day to hear Dr.

preach, and, as usual, carried a pocket Bible with her that she might turn to any of the passages the preacher might happen to refer to. But she found that she had no use for the Bible then, and on coming away said to a friend, I should have left my Bible at home to-day, and have brought my dictionary; the doctor does not deal in Scripture, but in such learned words and phrases as require the help of an interpreter to render them intelligible. (J. C. Gray.)

Simplicity in preaching

Whenever Archbishop Whately came to preach at the chapel of the castle it was observed that a rough private soldier was always in his place, mouth open, as if in sympathy with his ears. Some of the gentlemen playfully took him to task for it, supposing it was due to the usual vulgar admiration of a celebrity. But the man had a better reason, and was aide to give it. He said, That isnt it at all. The archbishop is easy to understand; there are no fine words in him. A fellow like me, now, can follow along and take every bit of it in. (Sir Arthur Helps.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co 14:8. Γὰρ, for) This serves the purpose of a gradation; for the higher confirms the lower step.—ἄδηλον, uncertain) One sound of a single trumpet summons soldiers to one class of duties, another sound to another class of duties.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_14:8. Confirmation of the negative implied in πῶς γνωσθήσεται κ.τ.λ., by another yet stronger example: for also in the case of, etc. The emphasis is upon σάλπιγξ, a trumpet, the simple sounds of which are assuredly far more easily intelligible as regards their meaning and design than those of flute and cither.

ἄδηλον] unclear, uncertain, qui dignosci nequeat, Beza. Unius tubae cantus alius ad alia vocat milites, Bengel. Comp. φωνάς τινας ἀσήμους, Lucian, Alex. 13.

φωνήν] comp. Il. xviii. 219.

εἰς πόλεμον] to battle, Hom. Il. i. 177, iv. 891; Pind. Ol. xii. 5; Plato, Phaed. p. 66 C; Sir_37:5; Sir_40:6; 1Ma_2:41. The signal of attack was given with the trumpet. See Wetstein and Valckenaer in loc.; Rosenmüller, Morgenl. VI. p. 110.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co 14:8 . To the pipe and harp , adornments of peace, P. adds for further illustration ( καὶ γάρ ) the warlike trumpet . This ruder instrument furnishes a stronger example: varied signals can be given by its simple note, provided there is an understanding between trumpeter and hearers; “unius tubæ cantus alius ad alia vocat milites” (Bg [2054] ). Without such agreement, or with a wavering, indistinct sound, the loudest blast utters nothing to purpose: “For if the trumpet also gives an uncertain voice, who will prepare for battle?” How disastrous, at the critical moment, to doubt whether the trumpet sounds Advance or Retreat!

[2054] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_14:8

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

This is a confirmation of the last clause of the preceding verse. The sound emitted does not produce its proper effect if it be unintelligible or uncertain. This teaches us the point of the whole illustration. The trumpet may sound the battle call, but if that call is not understood, who will heed it? So the speaker with tongues may announce the most important truths, he may unfold mysteries, or pour forth praises as from a harp of gold, what can it profit those who do not understand him?

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Translate, "For if also," an additional step in the argument.

uncertain sound--having no definite meaning: whereas it ought to be so marked that one succession of notes on the trumpet should summon the soldiers to attack; another, to retreat; another, to some other evolution.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 8. If the trumpet give an uncertain sound] If, when the soldier should prepare himself for the battle, the trumpet should give a different sound to that which is ordinarily used on such occasions, the soldier is not informed of what he should do, and therefore does not arm himself; consequently, that vague, unintelligible sound of the trumpet, is of no use.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(8) For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound.—Not only has each instrument its own sound, but in each instrument there is a distinction of notes. If a trumpet does not clearly sound the advance when it is intended, or the retreat when it is meant, the trumpet is useless, the soldiers not knowing what to do.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound] An indistinct sound, that which conveys no clear impression to the mind. The muster, the charge, the rally, the retreat, are each indicated by a definite order of musical intervals upon the trumpet, or they would be useless for the purpose of calling soldiers together. So words are useless to mankind unless they represent things.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound,.... That is not plain and manifest, so as that it cannot be known on what account it is given:

who shall prepare himself to the battle? the allusion is to the custom of many nations, Jews and others, who, when about to engage in war, made use of musical instruments, particularly the trumpet, to gather the soldiers together, prepare them for the battle, give them notice of it, and animate them to it (y); the sound of the trumpet was the alarm of war; see Jer 4:5. And particularly the allusion may be to the two silver trumpets, ordered by God to Moses for the Jews, which were to be made of a whole piece, and to be used for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps, and to blow an alarm with when they went to war against the enemy, Num 10:1 and were a lively emblem of the Gospel, whose use is to gather souls to Christ, to direct saints in their journeying, and to prepare and animate them for battle, with their spiritual enemies; and of which use it is, when it gives a certain and even sound, as it does when clearly and rightly blown; and that is, the sound of love, grace, and mercy, to the sons of men, through a bleeding Saviour; salvation alone by a crucified Jesus, peace and pardon by his blood, justification by his righteousness, and atonement by his sacrifice; when it is blown aright, it blows a blast on all the goodliness of man, it magnifies the grace of God, exalts the person of Christ, debases the creature, shows its impurity, imperfection, and inability; and expresses the nature, use, and necessity of efficacious grace; and puts believers on doing good works for necessary uses, but not for life, righteousness, and salvation; and so its sound is equal, even, and certain: and when it is so, it is a means of gathering souls to Christ, the standard bearer and ensign of the people; and of engaging them to enlist themselves as volunteers in his service; and of animating them to fight under his banner the battles of the Lord of hosts: but if this trumpet gives an uncertain sound, as it does when grace and works are blended together in the business of salvation; and faith or works put in the room of, or joined with the righteousness of Christ in justification; when particular election and general redemption, or the salvability of all men, are put together; the covenant of grace represented as conditional, and preparations for grace, and offers of grace, and days of grace talked of, that may be past and lost; then who can prepare himself for the battle? persons must be thrown into, and left in the utmost uncertainty and confusion: when this is the case, they know not what side to take on, but halt between two opinions; they know not what that faith is they are to fight and earnestly contend for; they are not able to discern an enemy from a friend; they have no heart to fight and endure hardness, as good soldiers of Christ; nor can they promise themselves, or be assured of victory, which the certain sound of the Gospel gives them.

(y) Vid Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 4. c. 2. p. 178.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

Ver. 8. For if the trumpet] Similes are excellent for illustration, and must be fetched from things familiar.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound - The trumpet was used commonly in war. It is a well-known wind instrument, and was made of brass, silver, etc. It was used for various purposes in war - to summon the soldiers; to animate them in their march; to call them forth to battle; to sound a retreat; and to signify to them what they were to do in battle, whether to charge, advance, or retreat, etc. It therefore employed a “language” which was intelligible to an army. An uncertain sound was one in which none of these things were indicated, or in which it could not be determined what was required.

Who shall prepare himself ... - The apostle selects a single instance of what was indicated by the trumpet, as an illustration of what he meant. The idea is, that foreign tongues spoken in their assembly would be just as useless in regard to their duty, their comfort, and edification, as would be the sound of a trumpet when it gave one of the usual and intelligible sounds by which it was known what the soldiers were required to do. Just as we would say, that the mere beating on a drum would he useless, unless some tune was played by which it was known that the soldiers were summoned to the parade, to advance, or to retreat.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The trumpet is made use of in battles, and that variously; it is used to give soldiers notice to march on against the enemy, and also to sound a retreat: if there were not a distinction in the one sound, and in the other, how should the soldier know when to go forward, and when to come back, by the sound of it? To instruct them what to do, the trumpet must not only sound, but sound intelligibly to those that hear it, which it could not, if there were no distinction in the sound.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. Trumpet—By different notes, or even tunes, upon the military trumpet the army was signaled either to advance, retreat, prepare for battle, go into quarters, etc. Sometimes the opposite army learned the signals and were able to use them by stratagem. Sometimes by counter stratagem the enemy was made to believe the signals, and was deceived to his own damage.

Prepare… battle—If the signal should be uncertain the army would be in confusion, not knowing what movement to make.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If the trumpet give an uncertain sound. A spiritual exhortation should be like the "blowing of a trumpet in Zion;" but if, as in "the tongue," the trumpet only gave forth an unintelligible blare, its sounds were useless.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who will prepare himself for the battle - Unless he understand what the trumpet sounds? suppose a retreat or a march.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

For if the trumpet give an uncertain voice, who shall prepare himself for war?

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

8. If the trumpet. The various distinctions of note sounded a charge, a retreat, etc.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

8. ἄδηλον φωνήν. A sound not distinguishable, that which conveys no clear impression to the mind. The muster, the charge, the rally, the retreat, are each indicated by a definite order of musical intervals upon the trumpet, or they would be useless for the purpose of calling soldiers together. So words are useless to mankind unless they represent things.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8.] ἄδηλον, uncertain, in its meaning: for a particular succession of notes of the trumpet then, as now, gave the signals for attack, and retreat, and the various evolutions of an army. The giving the signal for battle with the trumpet is called by Dio Cassius τὸ πολεμικὰν βοᾷν, by Ælian τὸ παρορμητικὸν ἐμπνεῖν: see Wetst., where many examples are to be found.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. Another and stronger illustration. Of all musical sounds the military trumpet is the most potent, and far clearer than pipe or lyre. If sound is to be a signal, it must differ from other sounds.

‘For if a trumpet also should give an uncertain voice, who will make ready for battle?’* The context makes ‘battle’ more probable than ‘war.’ In Homer and Hesiod the meaning of ‘battle’ is commonest (Il. 7:174 of a duel), in class. Grk. that of ‘war.’ Cf. Num 10:9; Jer 50:42; Eze 7:14. In the Synoptists, ‘war’ is the better translation. In Jas 4:1 πόλεμοι καὶ μάχαι means bitter quarrels between individuals. Compare Clem. Rom. Cor. 46. On military signals with trumpets see Smith, Dict. Ant. ‘Exercitus,’ 1. p. 801; ‘Tuba,’ 2. p. 901. For ἄδηλος see the unmarked graves, τὰ μνημεῖα τὰ ἄδηλα (Luk 11:44): the word is found nowhere else in N.T. and is rare in LXX. Here, ἄδηλον σάλπ. φων. is the right order, and also the most effective.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The trumpet [σαλπιγξ] . Properly, a war - trumpet.

Sound [φωνην] . Rev., much better, voice, preserving the distinction between the mere sound of the trumpet and the modulated notes. The case might be illustrated by the bugle calls or points by which military commands are issued, as distinguished from the mere blare of the trumpet.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.