Translation
And THEOS has set in place
Go to footnote numberthese in the assembly,
Go to footnote numberfirst Apostles
Go to footnote numbersecond prophets
Go to footnote numberthird teachers
Go to footnote numberthen demonstrations of power, then gifts that result in healings, the taking hold of in order to help someone,
Go to footnote numberthose who steer,
Go to footnote numberfamilies
Go to footnote numberof tongues.
Paraphrase
Furthermore, in the church, THE CREATOR AND RULER OF ALL THINGS has appointed the following: first those with special authority through whom God has passed on the message of Jesus, second those who call people to the correct course of action based on a current spiritual reality, third those who help us understand God’s word clearly, then those through whom God works miracles, then gifts that bring about healings, “taking the bull by the horns” in order to help someone, those who guide others, and different kinds of tongues.
Footnotes
1
Also “establish, appoint or assign.”
2
This is consistently the word for “church” in the New Testament. It means “assembly, or the assembled ones.”
3
The word “apostle” means “sent one” but in the New Testament it was often used of those who had special authority in the churches because they had been with Jesus (Paul qualified because Jesus had met him on the road to Damascus). It was through them that the accepted message of Jesus was passed on to others. Their role was to receive something special and pass it on. Today there can be apostles with a lower case “a” meaning those who have been “sent,” but there are no longer any Apostles with an upper case “A”, meaning those through whom the teachings of Jesus have been passed on because they spent time with Jesus.
4
The act of prophesying in Scripture is usually associated with calling people to the correct course of action based on a current spiritual reality. It often sounded like this: “You people are far from God and living in sin. You need to repent and change your ways, or you will suffer God’s judgment. So turn to God while you still have a chance.” Notice in this example that no details are given about God’s judgment, only that it is warranted and therefore they should repent. Only rarely did prophecy include foretelling what would happen in the future. Usually it was connected to the present and projected spiritual truths in general terms into the near future. Thus, the act of prophesying was to speak truth in a practical, livable way.
5
Teachers are important because they help us understand God’s word clearly.
6: "taking hold of":
This is a compound word coming from “take or receive” and the preposition “opposite of, as substitution for.” The idea of “take hold of” was used of helping or supporting someone because the root word carried the idea of “embracing” someone who needed help, “to partake with them in their hardship,” or “to take hold of a person or a situation in a fitting way, a way which matches the situation.”
7
This word means “to steer, to pilot, to guide.”
8
“families”: In English, Latin and Greek this word expresses “offspring, kinds, families, races, nations.” Our word “genus” used in biological classifications, comes from the same root, as does our word “generation”. The root word in view here means “to give birth to.”
HOW TO HELP PEOPLE
I find the Greek way of expressing the idea of “helping” to be extremely refreshing and practical. First of all, we join the person in need by placing ourselves in that situation with them, actually “opposite them – face to face.” Then we take hold of them and the situation in a way the says, “I will do all I can to help you change what is happening.” Helping in Scripture is not a passive concept; it is not just writing a check or sending an online donation. Helping is personal, active, sacrificial, strong yet fitting.
This one Greek word is an entire sermon!
PEOPLE ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT, BUT GIFTS ARE NOT
Some think that Paul was listing the spiritual graces in order of importance. This could be true, but only partially true. Paul does indicate that some gifts of grace are not as important as others, and tongues is one of the lesser ones. However, he has also made the case that all people are important and we should not minimize a fellow believer because he does not have the same gifting as we do. Of course he won’t have the same gifting; gifts were intended to bring variety of function to the body. He was trying to bring balance to a situation in Corinth that was out of control with people on opposite ends of this issue and pulling hard against each other. So the one group should stop making tongues into something bigger than it actually was, yet the other group should not seek to eliminate tongues altogether.
It is possible that the first three spiritual gifts listed are clearly the most important while the other ones are not as easily placed in a specific order and that is why Paul stopped enumerating them after the third one. If this was the intended meaning, it utilizes the first three to show that some indeed are more important than others while not specifying a precise order for the rest of them, although the list intentionally places tongues in the last spot. I favor this interpretation.
We likewise should not emphasize an underserved gift in order to make ourselves look good; the glory should always go to the gift-giver.