By Pastor Dave Farmer Fri, Jan 08, 2016
The exegesis is available that supports the expanded translation.
Exegesis of 1 Corinthians 14:18
"I am giving thanks, at this moment, to God [for] I speak with tongues more than all of you.
Numbers in brackets [ ] refer to the Strong's numbering system whereby Greek words are assigned a number "Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship." Those who study the Scripture from the original languages are familiar with this lexicon.
18a] Εὐχαριστῶ τῷ θεῷ, "I am giving thanks, at this moment, to God."
The verse begins with the present active indicative 1st person singular of the verb EUCHARISTEO [2168] which means "to give thanks, to be grateful". The present tense is an Aoristic Present which expresses the verbal idea not as ongoing, but at this moment of writing. It is true that Paul is a thankful person, one who continuously and habitually gives thanks to God, which would be an Customary Present, but that is not the aspect of this verb in this context.
Paul is writing to the Corinthians to correct the improper use of the gift of tongues during public worship. As he is arguing his case, it occurs to him that his experience with the gift of tongues allows him to approach the Corinthians as a expert. It is, at this moment, he is thankful to God for the spiritual gift of tongues, as it strengthens his defense, I AM GIVING THANKS TO GOD, AT THIS MOMENT. In the active voice Paul is producing this praise to God. The indicative mood is declarative used to assert a statement of fact. Paul is genuinely thankful to God.
Then we have the articular dative singular noun THEOS [2316]. The dative case shows personal interest and indicates the One who receives the praise. The monadic use of the article explains how absolutely unique is our God. Each member of the Godhead is worthy of praise. The Father is to be praised because He is the Author of the Plan Of Grace; the Son is worthy of praise because He is the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit is worthy of praise for He reveals the truth to us, just to name a few praiseworthy areas. In this context Paul is thankful for the sovereign distribution of the gift of tongue given to him by the Holy Spirit.
18b] πάντων ὑμῶν μᾶλλον γλώσσαις λαλῶ "[for] I speak with tongues more than all of you. . ."
This sentence explains the reason for his praising God, so I added "for" to smooth out the translation.
The word order is different in the Greek, but we will start with the present active indicative 1st person singular of LALEO [2980] which means to speak, I SPEAK.
The perfective present indicates an action begun in the past but emphasizes the present reality or the continuation of existing results. In the past he has spoken in tongues and he still possesses this gift. In the active voice Paul produces the action of the verb, he speaks with tongues and it is subject to his will. He chooses when it is to be employed. It does not overwhelm him or come upon him without his control. The indicative mood is declarative for an assertion of fact. His mood is, "I know what I am talking about."
Next the instrumental plural of manner of the noun GLOSSA [1100] meaning WITH TONGUES.
This is followed by a comparative clause beginning with the adverb of comparison MALLON [3123] which means MORE THAN. Also we have the adjective PAS meaning ALL modifying the second person personal pronoun SU, which is used as an ablative of comparison. Literally it means ALL OF YOU [in the congregation] .