1 Corinthians 12:21-26 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

The apostle here makes out the truth of what was above asserted, and puts the gifted men among the Corinthians in mind of their duty, by comparing the church of Christ to a human body. I. By telling us that one body may have many members, and that the many members of the same body make but one body (1 Cor. 12:12): As the body is one, and hath many members, and all members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ; that is, Christ mystical, as divines commonly speak. Christ... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

12:12-31 Just as the body is one, although it has many members, and just as all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by the one Spirit we have all been baptized in such a way as to become one body, whether we be Jews or Greeks, whether we be slaves or free men; and we have all been watered by the one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot were to say, "Because I am not the hand I am not of the body," it is... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:21

And the eye cannot say unto the hand ,.... Every member of the natural body is useful and necessary. The eye, the seat of the sense of seeing, cannot say to the communicating and working hand, I have no need of thee : I can do without thee: so the seers and overseers of the church, the ministers of the Gospel, cannot say to the liberal and munificent hands, we have no need of you; for as the one stand in need of the light, instruction, comfort, advice, and direction of the other, so the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:22

Nay, much more those members of the body ,.... The apostle, in a beautiful gradation, proceeds to take notice of such parts of the body as are more weak, dishonourable, and uncomely, showing the necessity and usefulness of them: which seem to be more feeble ; than others, do not consist of a strong bony substance, and are not fenced with sinews, as the belly and its intestines: yet these are necessary ; nor could the body be sustained, nourished, and refreshed, without them; so the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:23

And those members of the body ,.... As the back parts of it: which we think to be less honourable ; though greatly useful, upon these we bestow more abundant honour ; by clothing them, for a man's garments are his honour and glory; See Gill on Matthew 6:29 , so the poor members of Christ's church, who are thought to be, though they really are not, the less honourable, have the more abundant honour conferred on them by God and Christ: God has chosen the poor of this world; Christ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:24

For our comely parts have no need ,.... As the face, eyes, nose, lips, cheeks, &c.; which stand in no need of an external covering, of any outward ornament: so such as are blessed with the bounties of nature and providence, with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and are eminent for grace and holiness, and are enabled to walk worthy of their calling, and to have their conversations as become the Gospel of Christ, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience, these have no need of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:25

That there should be no schism in the body ..... No complaint of one member against another, as useless and unnecessary; no murmuring on that account; no tumults and rioting; no rebellion and insurrection of one against another; no dissension, no division. The use Menenius F5 Liv. Hist. l. p. 43. Agrippa made of this simile, applying it to the body politic, as the apostle here does to the spiritual body, for the appeasing of a sedition among the people; is well known, and usually... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:26

And whether one member suffer ,.... Pain; even the meanest, lowest, and most distant, as the foot or hand, toe or finger: all the members suffer with it ; are more or less affected therewith, and bear part of the distress; as is easily discerned, by their different forms and motions on such an occasion: so when anyone member of the mystical body is in affliction, whether inward or outward, of body or mind, the rest are, or should be, affected with it, condole, sympathize, help, and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:21

And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee - The apostle goes on, with his principal object in view, to show that the gifts and graces with which their different teachers were endowed were all necessary for their salvation, and should be collectively used; for not one of them was unnecessary, nor could they dispense with the least of them; the body of Christ needed the whole for its nourishment and support. The famous apologue of Menenius Agrippa, related by Livy, will... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:22

Those members - which seem to be more feeble - These, and the less honorable and uncomely, mentioned in the next verses, seem to mean the principal viscera, such as the heart, lungs, stomach, and intestinal canal. These, when compared with the arms and limbs, are comparatively weak; and some of them, considered in themselves, uncomely and less honorable; yet these are more essential to life than any of the others. A man may lose an eye by accident, and an arm or a leg may be amputated, and... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:21

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:22

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:23

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:24

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:25

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:26

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:21

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 12:22

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