ONE LANGUAGE

ONE LANGUAGE

"For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, That all of them may call on the name of the LORD, To serve Him shoulder to shoulder.” Zeph. 3:9

The Barrier of Language

                In the coming Kingdom every obstacle to human understanding and international accord will be taken away. Among these obstacles, perhaps the most stubborn is the barrier of diverse languages. Other things being equal, the most successful diplomats are those who speak and understand the tongues of the nations to which they are accredited. Recognizing the great value of some lingua franca, more than one effort has been made to produce something to fill the void. But the problem here is the jealousy of the various nations for the preservation of their own distinctive cultures.

                In Zephaniah we seem to have recognition of this language difficulty. In the days of the Kingdom, God says, "Then will I turn to the peoples a pure language that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent" (Zeph. 3:9, ASV). As to the meaning of this prediction, Jennings has said, "The discord of Babel shall, as it were, give place to the unity of language." This meaning is disputed by Keil who argues that the Hebrew word rendered "pure" means purity from sin rather than linguistic clarity, and also that the Hebrew noun means lip and "does not stand for language." But Keil seems to ignore the fact that in Gen. 11:1-9 this noun is so used no less than four times in connection with the confusion of tongues at Babel. As for the idea of moral purity, it is admitted that this is the correct meaning. But this only adds to the force of the idea of linguistic unity, for the curse of language multiplicity came because of the sinful speech of man upon that occasion. And therefore the removal of this curse, in the Millennial Kingdom, would certainly involve recognition of its moral implication. Purity does not exclude unity. As Pusey has said, "Before the dispersion of Babel the world was of one lip, and that, impure, for it was in rebellion against God. Now it shall be again of one lip, and that, purified."