What Does 1 Corinthians 12:10 Mean?
To another the workings of might, to another prophesying, to another the sifting of breaths, to another kinds of tongues, and to another the carrying across of tongues.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:THE KEY
Understanding is shared too: one person speaks in a tongue, another makes it intelligible.
THE MEANING
The shared life around you holds distinct capacities: acts of power, prophecy, discernment among spirits, varied tongues, and interpretation. No one person carries the whole range; one person’s speech can become intelligible through another’s gift.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that one person must possess every gift for a community to be whole.
THE ROOT
πνευμάτων
pneumatōn
GROWS FROM
πνευ-
pneu-
To breathe or blow.
“sifting of breaths” in this verse is pneumatōn. The word translated “spirits” belongs to a word family that also carries breath and wind. English separates these into different categories, while pneuma holds the senses together; discernment reaches toward what animates an utterance, not only the words it contains.
ALSO GROWS
pnoē: Breath
πνοή
This related word makes the breath sense audible beneath the verse’s “spirits.”
pneuma: Breath, wind, or spirit
πνεῦμα
The verse uses its plural form, linking discernment to the breath or spirit behind an expression.
διακρίσεις
diakriseis
GROWS FROM
κριν-
krin-
To separate, distinguish, or decide.
“sifting of breaths” in this verse is diakriseis. The word carries the sense of making distinctions, not merely noticing that spiritual expressions differ. Its root also appears in words for judgment and examination, revealing discernment as the capacity to weigh what is present.
ALSO GROWS
diakrinō: To distinguish or discern
διακρίνω
This verb shows the same root at work as an act of distinguishing between things.
krisis: Judgment or decision
κρίσις
This branch shows how distinction can lead to a considered judgment.
ἑρμηνεία
hermēneia
GROWS FROM
ἑρμηνευ-
hermēneu-
To interpret or explain.
“carrying across” in this verse is hermēneia. Interpretation carries speech toward shared understanding; it does not erase the tongue being interpreted. The verse presents intelligibility as its own capacity, alongside the capacity to speak.
ALSO GROWS
hermēneuō: To interpret or explain
ἑρμηνεύω
This verb shares the word family of “interpretation” and names the act behind the gift.
diermēneuō: To interpret or explain fully
διερμηνεύω
This related verb appears when a tongue is carried into understanding.
THE PATTERN
A shared source appears through distinct capacities distributed among different people.
And I have filled him with the breath of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of work.We have gifts that differ according to the favor given to us. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to trust.But the one and the same breath works all these, portioning to each one as it wills.THE THREAD
So let the one who speaks in a tongue no one knows pray that he may carry it across.The verb “interpret” belongs to the same Greek word family as “interpretation” here. This later verse makes the connection visible: a tongue can be carried into shared understanding.
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