1 Corinthians 12:15

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

The Church compared to a body and its members. read more

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:15

If the foot shall say, etc. So Seneca says, "What if the hands should wish to injure the feet, or the eyes the hands? As all the members agree together because it is the interest of the whole that each should be kept safe, so men spare their fellow men because we are born for heaven, and society cannot be saved except by the love and protection of its elements" ('De Ira,' 2:31). And Marcus Aurelius: "We have been born for mutual help, like the feet, like the hands, like the rows of upper and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:15-16

Contentment is better than envy. Where party spirit is rife, as it was in the Corinthian Church, there is always danger of hatred, envying, and jealousy. The rebuke to these dispositions, administered by the apostle, is founded upon the deepest principles of Christianity. The Church is not a club which each member joins for his own advantage and convenience, but a body in which each member is incorporated for mutual cooperation in common subjection to the Divine Head. I. THERE MUST ... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:15

If the foot shall say ... - The same figure and illustration which Paul here uses occurs also in pagan writers. It occurs in the apologue which was used by Menenius Agrippa, as related by Livy (lib. 2: cap. 32), in which he attempted to repress a rebellion which had been excited against the nobles and senators, as useless and cumbersome to the state. Menenius, in order to show the folly of this, represents the different members of the body as conspiring against the stomach, as being inactive,... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Corinthians 12:14-20

1 Corinthians 12:14-20. For the body is not one member, but many All of which are necessary, that the various sorts of offices belonging to the body may be all performed: thus there must be different gifts and offices in the church of Christ, which all conduce to the advantage and perfection of the whole. If the foot One of inferior gifts and place; shall say, Because I am not the hand Do not appear in a more honourable place, and have not a more important office; I am not of the body ... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Unity in spite of many gifts (12:12-31)The human body is made up of many parts, all with different functions, yet there is a basic unity throughout the body. So it is in the church which is Christ’s body. All believers, without distinction, are introduced into and united in that body through the baptism of the Spirit. The same Spirit dwells within each one (12-13).Many parts make up the body, and all are necessary for its proper functioning. Those without more obvious gifts should not think... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 1 Corinthians 12:15

If . App-118 . the = a. of . App-104 . therefore = on account of (Greek. para . App-104 .) this. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:15

For if the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; it is not therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it not therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?The great lesson is that various members of Christ's spiritual body have many various talents, perform many different services, some (in the eyes of men) receiving... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:15

1 Corinthians 12:15. Is it therefore not of the body?— It is not for that reason no part of the body. Bengelius and Wetstein. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:15

15. The humbler members ought not to disparage themselves, or to be disparaged by others more noble (1 Corinthians 12:21; 1 Corinthians 12:22). foot . . . hand—The humble speaks of the more honorable member which most nearly resembles itself: so the "ear" of the "eye" (the nobler and more commanding member, 1 Corinthians 12:22- :), (1 Corinthians 12:16). As in life each compares himself with those whom he approaches nearest in gifts, not those far superior. The foot and hand represent men of... read more

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