1 Corinthians 12:18-26

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 12:18

But now hath God set the members ,.... The members of a natural body, as they are all made and fashioned by God in the form they be, so they are each of them set by him in the place they are: everyone of them in the body as it hath pleased him ; according to his sovereign will, without consulting any; and each stands in the best situation and position they could be put, and for the greatest service and usefulness to the whole: so God, and not man, hath set every member in the mystical... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:19

And if they were all one member ,.... As all eye, or all ear, or all hand, or all foot: where were the body ? where would be the body? it would not be a body consisting of such proper and suitable members, as now it is: so if the community of the saints were either all ministers, or all hearers, &c.; there would be no body, consisting of different persons, to receive any benefit or usefulness from either; the church of Christ would not be that uniform, useful, and consistent... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:20

But now are they many members ,.... Of different make and shape, in different parts and places, and of different use and service: yet but one body ; all are united together, and make up one complete body, and which without each of them would not be perfect: so there are many members in the body of Christ, the church; some are teachers, others are hearers; some give, and others receive; but all make up but one church, of which Christ is the head; nor can anyone of them be spared; was... 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

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