1 The organ of taste and speech. It may become parched and cleave to the roof of the mouth, thus leaving one mute (Ps 137:6). As the organ of speech, it can produce words of praise (Ps 51:14; Ps 119:172), deceit (Ps 10:7; Ps 78:36; Prov 21:6; Mic 6:12; Jer 9:3; Jer 9:5; Jer 9:8), or mischief (Prov 17:4). The Letter of James condemns the tongue as unrighteous, untamable, and evil (Jas 3:6-12). 2A language (Isa 45:23; Phil 2:11; Rom 14:11), especially a foreign or incomprehensible language, as in the phrases “alien tongue” (Isa 28:11; Isa 33:19) and “other tongues” (Acts 2:4; NRSV: “other languages”).
