Tongues and Interpretation

in the Old Testament


by Ivan Maddox
Atlanta, GA


  1. Language was given by God to man before man had any other human being to talk with!

  2. Language was originally given by God to man so that God and man could communicate with each other. Communication with other people was secondary.

  3. God, who invented language and gave language to man, exercised His right to change man's languages at Babel.

  4. At Babel, God not only gave each man a new language; He removed the old language from each man's memory as well.

  5. God can give a tongue to man with or without the understanding of what that tongue means.

  6. For Adam to "manifest" the new tongue God had given him, all he had to do was open his mouth and speak; or think the words quietly to himself.

  7. At Babel, all each person had to do to manifest their new tongue was to open their mouth and speak. God supplied, in their case, not only the language, but a whole vocabulary.

  8. Speaking in tongues is God putting His words in your mouth (or in your mind, if you are speaking quietly to yourself) as you speak.

  9. The first case of interpretation of tongues (by revelation, not by the manifestation of interpretation of tongues) in the Bible is in Daniel 5, the record of Daniel and King Belteshazzar.

  10. The writing in tongues in Daniel 5 consisted of only four words. Two of the words were the same. Yet the tongue was genuine and from God.

  11. The interpretation given by Daniel (Daniel 5:25-28) is much longer than the original four words in tongues. Yet the interpretation was genuine and from God.

  12. You have been given your own private language for your prayers and praises to God, a language shared by you and God.

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