In writing to the church at Corinth, Paul encouraged them to continue the practice of speaking with other tongues in their worship of God and in their prayer lives as a means of spiritual edification.
Greek language scholars tell us that we have a word in our modern vernacular, which is closer to the meaning of the original than the word “edified.”
That word is “charge” — as used in connection with charging a battery. Therefore we could paraphrase this verse, “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifies, charges, builds himself up like a battery.”
