1 Corinthianschapter 12
31 verses · Paul · AD 54 or 55 · Paul's letters
To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit,
Introduction
Paul, Paul's letters, 1 Corinthians Overview.
Paul wrote this chapter to answer a question the Corinthians had put to him by letter. The church had come out of temples where frenzy and strange speech were counted as marks of a god. Some of its members now prized the showiest gifts and looked down on the rest. Paul answers with a test for what the Spirit says and with the picture of a single body. Listen for how often he says one and the same, and for the members he calls weaker and more honoured. Read it as the first of three chapters on gifts, love and order.
Context
- Who
- Former pagans who had known ecstatic religion before and were now ranking each other by gifting.
- What
- Paul's teaching on the gifts of the Spirit, their one source, their many kinds, and the church as one body of many members.
- Where
- Written from Ephesus to the church at Corinth, in answer to a letter the church had sent him.
- When
- About AD 54 or 55, during Paul's long stay at Ephesus.
- Why
- To correct a church that ranked its members by their gifts and treated the showiest gift as the mark of being spiritual.
Historical context
Paul begins by reminding them that when they were pagans they were led astray to mute idols. Ecstatic experience was familiar in their old religion, oracles, frenzied rites, possession, so the mere presence of an overwhelming experience proved nothing. The test he gives is confessional: no one speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus is accursed, and no one says Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The body-and-members image was well worn in Roman political speech, where it was used to tell each class to stay in its place and be content. Paul flips its purpose. The parts that seem weaker are indispensable, and the less presentable ones get the greater honour.
That was a direct hit on Corinth. In a city organized by visible rank, a congregation was sorting itself by which gifts looked most impressive, with tongues at the top.
The lists of gifts are not identical to each other in this chapter, and the ordering varies, a sign that Paul is illustrating variety rather than publishing a fixed hierarchy.
Significance
The first hearers were told that every gift came from one Spirit, distributing as he wills, and that each manifestation was given for the common good rather than for personal standing.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
They were also told they could not opt out or expel one another. The foot cannot resign from the body, and the eye cannot tell the hand it is unnecessary. If one member suffers, all suffer; if one is honoured, all rejoice.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
The Test of a Spirit: What It Says About Jesus
1 Corinthians 12:1-3
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers: Now about spiritual gifts opens the letter's fourth peri de section, on the pneumatika, the gifts of the Spirit. Verse 3 gives the test: no one can say Jesus is Lord, kyrios Iesous, except by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:1
“Now concerning - it is now time that I should speak of spiritual endowments. He had no doubt been consulted in regard to them, and probably various questions had been proposed, which he now proceeded to answer. Spiritual gifts - The word “gifts” is not in the original. The Greek refers to “spiritual” things in general, or to anything that is of a spiritual nature.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
1 Corinthians 12:1
“Now concerning spiritual gifts - The abundance of these in the churches of Greece strongly refuted the idle learning of the Greek philosophers. But the Corinthians did not use them wisely, which occasioned St. Paul's writing concerning them.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
led astray to mute idols: As pagans the Corinthians served mute idols, yet the shrines of those idols were full of frenzied speaking. Chrysostom compares that possession to being led away in chains, the one speaking overpowered by a spirit. The Spirit of God speaks through a willing mind.
1 Corinthians 12:2
“Ye know that ye were Gentiles,.... That is, by religion; hence the Syriac version renders it חנפא, "profane" persons, given up to wickedness, bigotry, and superstition; for by nation they were Gentiles still; and which must be understood of one part of this church only; for some of them were Jews, as is clear from many passages in the epistle to this church, and practices referred to.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:2
“Ye were Gentiles - Previously to your conversion to the Christian faith; ye were heathens, carried away, not guided by reason or truth, but hurried by your passions into a senseless worship, the chief part of which was calculated only to excite and gratify animal propensities. Dumb idols - Though often supplicated, could never return an answer; so that not only the image could not speak, but the god or demon pretended to be represented by it could not speak: a full proof that an idol was nothing in the world.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Corinthians 12:2
“This gives the reason why the Corinthians needed instruction as to spiritual gifts, namely, their past heathen state, wherein they had no experience of intelligent spiritual powers. When blind, ye went to the dumb. as ye were led--The Greek is, rather, "as ye might (happen to) be led," namely, on different occasions.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
no one can say: Anathema means a thing handed over to God's curse. Kyrios, the title in the second confession, is the word the Greek Old Testament uses for the name of the LORD. Hodge reads that confession as sincere faith from the heart, which no one reaches except by the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:3
“If two yardsticks are compared with each other, their straightness is in agreement. But if a distorted piece of wood is compared with a ruler, the crooked one will be at variance with the straight. Since, therefore, the praise of God is righteous, there is need of a righteous heart, in order that the praise may be fitting and adapted to it. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord,' except in the Holy Spirit." So how can one offer due praise if one does not have the right spirit in one's heart? HOMILY 15.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · On Psalm 32patristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:3
“Wherefore I give you to understand - I make known to you. The force of this expression is, “I give you this rule to distinguish,” or by which you may know what influences and operations are from God. The design of the passage is, to give them some simple general guide by which they could at once recognize the operations of the Spirit of God, and determine whether they who claimed to be under that operation were really so.”
1 Corinthians 12:3
“The spiritual man feels Him to be the Source of all blessings (Eph 1:3) and to be severed from Him is to be accursed (Ro 9:3). Lord--acknowledging himself as His servant (Isa 26:13). "Lord" is the Septuagint translation for the incommunicable Hebrew name JEHOVAH.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Many Gifts, One Spirit, Distributed as He Wills
1 Corinthians 12:4-6
There are different gifts: Verses 4 to 6 pair three words with one divine name each. Gifts, charismata, come from the same Spirit, ministries, diakonion, from the same Lord, and ways of working, energematon, from the same God. The pattern is Trinitarian before the doctrine had its later vocabulary.
1 Corinthians 12:4
“There are diversities of gifts - Χαρισματων· Gracious endowments, leading to miraculous results; such as the gift of prophecy, speaking different tongues, etc. And these all came by the extraordinary influences of the Holy Spirit.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:4
But as for us, we still dwell upon the earth, and have not yet sat down upon His throne. For although the Spirit of the Saviour that is in Him "searcheth all things, even the deep things of God," yet as to us "there are diversities of gifts, differences of administrations, and diversities of operations;" and we, while upon the earth, as Paul also declares, "know in part, and prophesy in part."
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book IIpatristic
There are different ministries: Ministries translates diakoniai, a word first used for waiting on tables and then for any service done for others. Hodge identifies the same Lord as Christ, who said in Luke 22:27 that he was among his disciples as one who serves. Every gift is a form of service.
1 Corinthians 12:5
“And there are differences of administrations,.... Or ministries; offices in the church, ministered in by different persons, as apostles, prophets, pastors, or teachers and deacons; who were employed in planting and forming of churches, ordaining elders, preaching the word, administering ordinances, and taking care of the poor; for which different gifts were bestowed on them, they not all having the same office.”
the same God works all things: Ways of working translates energemata, the effects of power at work, and the verb for God's working comes from the same root. Hodge takes all things in all people as every gift in every believer who has one. The power in each gift belongs to God.
1 Corinthians 12:6
“For the Apostle goes on to say, Now there are diversities of gifts, but there is the same Spirit; and there are diversities of ministrations but one and the same Lord; and there are diversities of workings but the same God, Who worketh all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for that which profiteth.”
Hilary of Poitiers · written before 367 · On the Trinity 8.29patristic
the manifestation of the Spirit: The verse states the purpose of the gifts before it names one: the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good, sympheron. The words to each one take in the whole congregation, so no believer stands outside the Spirit's giving.
1 Corinthians 12:7
“Since no one has the capacity to receive all spiritual gifts, but the grace of the Spirit is given proportionately to the faith of each, when one is living in community with others, the grace privately bestowed on each individual becomes the common possession of the others.… One who receives any of these gifts does not possess it for his own sake but rather for the sake of others.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · The Long Rules 7patristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:7
“But the manifestation of the Spirit - The word “manifestation” (φανέρωτις fanerōtis) means properly that which makes manifest, conspicuous, or plain; that which illustrates, or makes any thing seen or known. Thus, conduct manifests the state of the heart; and the actions are a manifestation, or “showing forth” of the real feelings. The idea here is, that there is given to those referred to, such gifts. endowments, or graces as shall “manifest” the work and nature of the Spirit’s operations on the mind; such endowments as the Spirit makes himself known by to people.”
1 Corinthians 12:7
“Spiritual gifts are bestowed, that men may with them profit the church and promote Christianity. They are not given for show, but for service; not for pomp and ostentation, but for edification; not to magnify those that have them, but to edify others. The measure and proportion in which they are given: All these worketh one and the same Spirit, dividing to every man as he will.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 12:8-9
To one there is given: The list opens with two gifts of speech, the message of wisdom and the message of knowledge, logos sophias and logos gnoseos. In gifts of healing, charismata iamaton, both words are plural in the Greek, many gifts for many kinds of healing.
1 Corinthians 12:8
“The word of wisdom - A power of understanding and explaining the manifold wisdom of God in the grand scheme of gospel salvation. The word of knowledge - Perhaps an extraordinary ability to understand and explain the Old Testament types and prophecies.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:8
“Word of wisdom - In all these places I consider that the proper translation of λογος is doctrine, as in many other places of the New Testament. It is very difficult to say what is intended here by the different kinds of gifts mentioned by the apostle: they were probably all supernatural, and were necessary at that time only for the benefit of the Church. On the 8th, 9th, and 10th verses (1Co 12:8-10), much may be seen in Lightfoot, Whitby, Pearce, and others.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
to another faith by the same Spirit: This faith is the kind 13:2 describes, able to move mountains. Chrysostom calls it the faith of miracles and sets it apart from the faith of doctrine that every believer holds. One Spirit gives both kinds of faith, and healing gifts with them.
1 Corinthians 12:9
“Faith may here mean an extraordinary trust in God under the most difficult or dangerous circumstances. The gift of healing need not be wholly confined to the healing diseases with a word or a touch.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:9
“This faith which is given by the Spirit as a grace is not just doctrinal faith but a faith which empowers activities surpassing human nature, a faith which moves mountains.… For just as a grain of mustard seed is of little bulk but of explosive energy, taking a trifling space for its planting and then sending out great branches all around, so that when it is grown it can give shelter to the birds, so in like manner the faith present in one's soul achieves the greatest things by the most summary decision.”
Cyril of Jerusalem · written before 386 · Catechetical Lecture 5.11patristic
1 Corinthians 12:9
“But the objects of faith differ respectively. Hence, we see, saving faith does not save by its instrinsic merit, but by the merits of Him who is the object of it. healing--Greek plural, "healings"; referring to different kinds of disease which need different kinds of healing (Mt 10:1).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
to another the working of miracles: Verse 10 names five more gifts, among them distinguishing between spirits, diakriseis pneumaton, the testing of which spirit speaks. Tongues and interpretation stand as two gifts, anticipating chapter 14's rule that the assembly needs both.
1 Corinthians 12:10
“The working of other miracles. Prophecy - Foretelling things to come. The discerning - Whether men be of an upright spirit or no; whether they have natural or supernatural gifts for offices in the church; and whether they who profess to speak by inspiration speak from a divine, a natural, or a diabolical spirit.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:10
“To another the working of miracles - Commentators have felt some perplexity in distinguishing this from what is mentioned in 1Co 12:9, of the gift of healing. it is evident that the apostle there refers to the power of working miracles in healing inveterate and violent diseases. The expression used here, “working of miracles” (ἐνεργήματα δυναμέων energēmata dunameōn) refers probably to the more “extraordinary” and “unusual” kinds of miracles; to those which were regarded as in advance of the power of healing diseases.”
1 Corinthians 12:10
“According to Paul, prophecy is not only through the Father and the Son but also through the Holy Spirit. On this account the office is one, the grace is one.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On the Holy Spirit 2.13.143patristic
All these are the work: The list closes where it opened, with the work of one and the same Spirit, who apportions them to each one as He determines. The choice is the Spirit's, so the church may recognize a gift already given.
1 Corinthians 12:11
“But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,.... Though these gifts, ministrations, and operations, are so different in themselves, and are bestowed upon different persons, yet they are all wrought by one and the same Spirit of God, who is the true Jehovah, and properly God, as these his works declare; for who, but the most high God, could ever communicate such gifts to men?”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:11
“But all these - All these various endowments. Worketh - Produces. All these are to be traced to him. That one and the self-same Spirit - The Holy Spirit, Acts 2. They were all, though so different in themselves, to be traced to the Holy Spirit, just as all the natural endowments of people - their strength, memory, judgment, etc. - though so various in themselves are to be traced to the same God. Dividing to every man severally - Conferring on each one as he pleases.”
1 Corinthians 12:11
“As the many members of the body compose an organic whole and none can be dispensed with as needless, so those variously gifted by the Spirit, compose a spiritual organic whole, the body of Christ, into which all are baptized by the one Spirit. of that one body--Most of the oldest manuscripts omit "one." so also is Christ--that is, the whole Christ, the head and body.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The Eye Cannot Say to the Hand, I Have No Need of You
1 Corinthians 12:12-13
The body is a unit: The chapter's central figure is a body composed of many parts, applied in verse 12 to Christ himself, head and members together. Verse 13 gives the means: in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free.
1 Corinthians 12:12
“This, too, I may confidently say: he who has likened the unity of our body throughout its manifold and divers members to the compacting together of the various gifts of the Spirit, shows also that there is but one Lord of the human body and of the Holy Spirit.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book Vpatristic
baptized into one body: The second picture is drinking, the Spirit taken in by each believer like water. Hodge links it with the living water of John 7:37 to 39, which John names as the Spirit. Every believer drinks from the same source.
1 Corinthians 12:13
“Whether Jews or gentiles - Who are at the greatest distance from each other by nature. Whether slaves or freemen - Who are at the greatest distance by law and custom. We have all drank of one Spirit - In that cup, received by faith, we all imbibed one Spirit, who first inspired, and still preserves, the life of God in our souls.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:13
“There is an indirect allusion to the Lord's Supper, as there is a direct allusion to baptism in the beginning of the verse. So the "Spirit, the water, and the blood" (1Jo 5:8), similarly combine the two outward signs with the inward things signified, the Spirit's grace. are . . . have been--rather as Greek, "were . . . were" (the past tense).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Corinthians 12:14-17
For the body does not consist: Paul answers Corinth's drift toward a favored few gifts: the body does not consist of one part, but of many. Verse 17 presses the logic to its end, where uniformity would destroy the body the member wanted to join.
1 Corinthians 12:14
“The unity of the body consists in the fact that its many members supply the things which the other parts lack.”
Ambrosiaster · written before 384 · Commentary on Paul's Epistlespatristic
4 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:14
“For the body is not one member - The mystical body, the Church, as well as the natural body, is composed of many members.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Corinthians 12:14
“Do not be amazed, he says, that being so many we are one body; for in the human body too, with its many members, one can find one body.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on 1 Corinthianspatristic
1 Corinthians 12:14
“For the body ... - The body is made up of many members, which have various offices. So it is in the church. We are to expect the same variety there; and we are not to presume either that all will be alike, or that any member that God has placed there will be useless.”
1 Corinthians 12:14
"For the body is not one member, but many." i.e., We are come to the same initiation, we enjoy the same Table. If now one Spirit both formed us and gathered us all together into one body; for this is the meaning of, "we were baptized into one body:" and vouchsafed us one table, and gave us all the same watering, (for this is the meaning of, "we were made to drink into one Spirit,") and united persons so widely separated; and if many things then become a body when they are made one: why, I pray, art thou continually…
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Homily on 1 Corinthians 30patristic
If the foot should say: Paul pairs the foot with the hand, two parts of the body that both do work. Chrysostom observes that envy usually looks at a part a little higher. The complaining foot remains a member all the same.
1 Corinthians 12:15
“Shall it hereupon disown relation to the body? Because it is not fixed in the same station, or favoured with the same gifts as others, shall it say, "I do not belong to Christ?" No, the meanest member of his body is as much a member as the noblest, and as truly regarded by him. All his members are dear to him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2 more voices on this verse
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, and as refusing to labor, and consuming everything.”
1 Corinthians 12:15
“So among men each is apt to compare himself with those whose gifts some way resemble his own, rather than with those who are at a distance, either above or beneath him. Is it therefore not of the body - Is the inference good? Perhaps the foot may represent private Christians; the hand, officers in the church; the eye, teachers; the ear, hearers.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
And if the ear should say: The second pair sets the ear beside the eye, the two senses that take in speech and sight. Hodge applies the figure to Corinthians with humbler gifts who felt shut out by showier ones. Membership comes from the body itself.
If the whole body were an eye: The questions picture a body made of one huge eye, able to see and unable to hear or smell. Hodge and Matthew Henry apply it to Corinthians who wanted every member to have the same prized gift. A church of one gift loses every other function.
1 Corinthians 12:17
“If the whole body ... - The idea in this verse is, that all the parts of the body are useful in their proper place, and that it would be as absurd to require or expect that all the members of the church should have the same endowments, as it would be to attempt to make the body “all eye.” If all were the same; if all had the same endowments, important offices which are now secured by the other members would be unknown.”
1 Corinthians 12:18-20
God has arranged the members: The complaint of the previous verses meets God's own act: God has arranged the members of the body according to His design. The verb is tithemi, the Septuagint's verb for planting and appointing, so a member's function is a deliberate gift of arrangement.
1 Corinthians 12:18
“We may plainly perceive the divine wisdom in the distribution of the members; but it was made according to the counsel of his will; he distinguished and distributed them as he pleased. So is it also in the members of Christ's body: they are chosen out to such stations, and endued with such gifts, as God pleases.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
If they were all one part: Paul carries the complaint to its end point. A body needs different parts to exist at all, so a church where everyone held the same gift would cease to be a body. Matthew Henry draws the lesson that variety of gifts serves the unity of the church.
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 community it is.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:19
“And if all were one member - If there were nothing but an eye, an ear, or a limb, there would be no body The idea which this seems intended to illustrate is, that if there was not variety of talent and endowment in the church, the church could not itself exist. If, for example, there were nothing but apostles, or prophets, or teachers; if there were none but those who spoke with tongues or could interpret them, the church could not exist.”
there are many parts, but one body: As it is turns from the imagined body of verses 17 and 19 back to the real body. The words repeat verse 12 and close the answer to the part that felt it did not belong. Many parts form one body.
1 Corinthians 12:20
“Secondly, he asserts the contrary truth, saying: As it is there are many parts, yet one body, which is made complete by all the parts. Thus, the Church is composed of diverse orders: "Terrible as an army with banners" (S. of S. 6:10).”
Thomas Aquinas · written before 1274 · Commentary on 1 Corinthianspatristic
1 Corinthians 12:21-24
The eye cannot say to: The proud member follows the discontented one: the eye cannot say to the hand, I do not need you. Verse 22 turns the argument over, since the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.
1 Corinthians 12:21
“And the eye cannot say unto the hand ... - The hand in its place is as needful as the eye; and the feet as the head. Nay, the eye and the head could not perform their appropriate functions, or would be in a great measure useless but for the aid of the hands and feet. Each is useful in its proper place. So in the church. Those that are most talented and most richly endowed with gifts, cannot say to those less so, that there is no need of their aid. All are useful in their place.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:21
“The church has real eyes: its teachers and leaders who see in sacred Scripture the mysteries of God.… It also has hands, effective persons who are not eyes but hands. Do they plumb the mysteries of sacred Scripture? No, but they are powerful in works. The church has feet: those who make official journeys of all kinds. The foot runs that the hand may find the work it is to do. The eye does not scorn the hand, nor do these three scorn the belly as if it were idle and unemployed.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Homilies on Matthew 85patristic
the parts of the body that seem to be weaker: Seem carries the weight of the sentence. A part of the body that looks weaker can be one the whole body cannot do without. Barnes applies the figure to humble members of the church whose gifts draw little notice and whose absence every part would feel.
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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the parts we consider less honorable: The honor given to these parts is clothing, the care people take to cover and adorn what they count less comely. Paul applies the custom to church life. Members with the least outward standing are to receive the most care.
1 Corinthians 12:23
“We bestow more abundant honour - Margin, “Put on.” The words rendered “abundant honor” here, refer to clothing. We bestow upon them more attention and honor then we do on the face that is deemed comely, and that is not covered and adorned as the other parts of the body are. More abundant comeliness - We adorn and decorate the body with frivilous apparel. Those parts which decency requires us to conceal we not only cover, but we endeavor as far as we can to adorn them. The face in the mean time we leave uncovered.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:23
“He will love the flesh which is, so very closely and in so many ways, His neighbour-(He will love it), although infirm, since His strength is made perfect in weakness; although disordered, since "they that are whole need not the physician, but they that are sick; " although not honourable, since "we bestow more abundant honour upon the less honourable members; " although ruined, since He says, "I am come to save that which was lost; " although sinful, since He says, "I desire rather the salvation of the sinner than his death; " although condemned, for says He, "I…”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On the Resurrection of the Fleshpatristic
God has composed the body: Composed translates synekerasen, a verb for mixing or blending, as wine is mixed with water. Hodge reads it of God blending strong and weaker members into one body by design. The extra honor comes from God first.
1 Corinthians 12:24
“So should the members of Christ's body behave towards their fellow-members: instead of despising them, or reproaching them, for their infirmities, they should endeavour to cover and conceal them, and put the best face upon them that they can.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 12:25-26
there should be no division: The purpose clause names the goal the figure has served since verse 12, that there should be no division in the body. The word is schisma, the word the letter used for Corinth's own factions in 1:10.
1 Corinthians 12:25
“With those among whom harmony is not secured, however, the bond of peace is not preserved, mildness of spirit is not maintained, but there is dissension, strife and rivalry. It would be a great piece of audacity to call such persons "members of Christ" or to say that they are ruled by him. It would be the expression of an honest mind to say openly that the wisdom of the flesh is master there and wields a royal sovereignty. .”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · Commentary (church-history corpus)patristic
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it: Chrysostom pictures a thorn driven into the heel. The back bends, the eyes look down, and the hands reach to draw it out. A church works the same way, sharing both the pain and the honor of each member.
1 Corinthians 12:26
“And whether one member suffer - As there is a mutual exertion for the general defense, so there is a mutual sympathy. If the eye, the hand, the foot, etc., be injured, the whole man grieves; and if by clothing, or any thing else, any particular member or part is adorned, strengthened, or better secured, it gives a general pleasure to the whole man.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:26
“But among brethren and fellow-servants, where there is common hope, fear, joy, grief, suffering, because there is a common Spirit from a common Lord and Father, why do you think these brothers to be anything other than yourself? Why flee from the partners of your own mischances, as from such as will derisively cheer them? The body cannot feel gladness at the trouble of any one member, it must necessarily join with one consent in the grief, and in labouring for the remedy. In a company of two is the church; but the church is Christ.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Repentancepatristic
Apostles First: and a Still More Excellent Way
1 Corinthians 12:27-28
Now you are the body: The figure names its subject outright: you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it. Verse 28 lists in order what God has appointed, first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then the other gifts with no further number.
1 Corinthians 12:27
“Thus are the members of the natural body, thus should the members of the mystical body be, disposed. Note, Mutual indifference, and much more contempt, and hatred, and envy, and strife, are very unnatural in Christians. It is like the members of the same body being destitute of all concern for one another, or quarrelling with each other.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:27
“Now ye are the body of Christ,.... Not his natural body, which his Father prepared for him, in which he bore our sins on the tree, and which was offered up once for all; nor his sacramental body, or the bread in the supper, which is a representation of his body; but his body mystical, the church; not that the Corinthians were the whole of the body, only a part of it, as every single congregational church is of the church universal.”
in the church God has appointed first of all apostles: Two gifts here appear nowhere else in the New Testament. Helping translates antilempseis, aid given to weaker members, and administration translates kyberneseis, the steering of a ship by its pilot. Gill connects them with the work of deacons and of those who lead the church.
1 Corinthians 12:28
“First apostles - Who plant the gospel in the heathen nations. Secondly prophets - Who either foretel things to come, or speak by extra-ordinary inspiration, for the edification of the church.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:28
“For this gift of God has been entrusted to the Church, as breath was to the first created man, for this purpose, that all the members receiving it may be vivified; and the [means of] communion with Christ has been distributed throughout it, that is, the Holy Spirit, the earnest of incorruption, the means of confirming our faith, and the ladder of ascent to God.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book IIIpatristic
1 Corinthians 12:28
“God hath set some in the Church - As God has made evident distinctions among the members of the human body, so that some occupy a more eminent place than others, so has he in the Church. And to prove this, the apostle numerates the principal offices, and in the order in which they should stand. First, apostles - Αποστολους, from απο from, and στελλο, I send; to send from one person to another, and from one place to another. Persons immediately designated by Christ, and sent by him to preach the Gospel to all mankind.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Corinthians 12:29-30
Are all apostles? Are all prophets?: The seven questions of these verses each expect the answer no, from Are all apostles down to whether all speak in tongues. The form of the questions rules out any single gift, tongues included, as the mark of a Spirit-filled believer.
1 Corinthians 12:29
“Only of pride cometh contention. These contests in the church of Corinth sprang from this original. It was a quarrel about precedency (as most quarrels among Christians are, with whatever pretences they are gilded over); and it is no wonder that a quarrel about precedence should extinguish charity.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Do all speak in tongues?: Tongues and interpretation close these questions, after apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles and healing, as they closed the lists in verses 10 and 28. Chrysostom observes that Paul places tongues last each time, the gift the Corinthians ranked first. The order of the gifts corrects their ranking.
1 Corinthians 12:30
“Have all the gifts of healing?.... No; when these gifts were in being, all had them not.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:30
“For even as the great gifts God hath not vouchsafed all to all men, but to some this, and to others that, so also did He in respect of the less, not proposing these either to all. And this He did, procuring thereby abundant harmony and love, that each one standing in need of the other might be brought close to his brother. This economy He established also in the arts, this also in the elements, this also in the plants, and in our members, and absolutely in all things.”
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Homily on 1 Corinthians 32patristic
But eagerly desire the greater gifts: The closing command, eagerly desire the greater gifts, uses zeloute, zeal for the gifts that build the church most. The most excellent way, kath hyperbolen, is the love without which, the next chapter says, the gifts are worth nothing.
1 Corinthians 12:31
“But covet earnestly the best gifts,.... Which may be rendered either indicatively as an assertion, "ye do covet earnestly the best gifts": of prophesying and teaching, of doing miracles, healing diseases, speaking with, and interpreting, different tongues and languages; but I can, and do show you something that is better, and more excellent than these: or, by way of interrogation, "do ye covet earnestly the best gifts?" do you zealously affect them, fervently desire them, and emulate one another in your endeavours after them?”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 12:31
“Ye covet earnestly the best gifts - And they are worth your pursuit, though but few of you can attain them. But there is a far more excellent gift than all these; and one which all may, yea, must attain or perish.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 Corinthians 12:31
“But where grace is given it is for the salvation of those who have it. Gifts are bestowed for the advantage and salvation of others. And there may be great gifts where there is not a dram of grace, but persons possessed of them are utterly out of the divine favour.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
How this psalm is built
The form: The first part of Paul's answer on spiritual gifts, running from 12:1 to 14:40: the test of the Spirit's speech, the one source of the gifts, and the church as one body, as Hodge classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Now about | Verse 1 opens with Now about, the phrase Paul uses to take up each question of the Corinthians' letter in turn. It stands at 7:1, 7:25, 8:1, 12:1, 16:1 and 16:12, so the chapter answers something the church itself had asked.The chapter's text counted from the store, The Berean Standard Bible text of 1 Corinthians 7:1, 7:25, 8:1, 12:1, 16:1 and 16:12 (translation id 3). | 1 Corinthians 7:1, 1 Corinthians 8:1, 1 Corinthians 12:1, 1 Corinthians 16:1 |
| One Spirit, one Lord, one God | Verses 4 to 6 set gifts beside the Spirit, service beside the Lord and working beside God, each with the word same. The threefold source stands before any list of gifts, so every gift that follows is given by one God.Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, on 1 Corinthians 12:4 to 6. | 1 Corinthians 12:4, 1 Corinthians 12:5, 1 Corinthians 12:6 |
| The body that speaks | In verses 14 to 26 the foot, the hand, the ear and the eye speak as if they could leave the body, and the eye and the head speak as if they could do without the rest. The picture was a familiar one in Greek and Roman speeches on civic order, where it usually kept the lower ranks in their place. Paul turns it to give greater honour to the parts that lack it.Frederic Godet, Commentary on First Corinthians, on 1 Corinthians 12:14. | 1 Corinthians 12:15, 1 Corinthians 12:21, 1 Corinthians 12:24 |
The debated reading: whether the gifts continue
5 more paragraphs on the patterns
The chapter names gifts of healing, miracles, prophecy and tongues, and readers differ on whether all of them continue in the church. John Chrysostom says the place is obscure because the gifts it describes used to occur and occur no longer (Homilies on First Corinthians, on 1 Corinthians 12:1). John Wesley holds that the gifts grew rare when love grew cold in the church, and he ties their decline to the church's own state (Sermons, "The More Excellent Way", on 1 Corinthians 12:31). The chapter's own list does not settle the question, and chapter 13 returns to it.
The lists of gifts
The chapter gives three lists, at verses 8 to 10, at verse 28 and in the questions of verses 29 and 30. They differ in their order and contents, and none of them names every gift the other two name. The list of verse 28 numbers apostles first, prophets second and teachers third, and tongues stand last in it.
What the chapter hands forward
Verse 31 closes with the most excellent way, which chapter 13 names as love. The questions of verses 29 and 30 about who speaks in tongues return in chapter 14, where prophecy and tongues are weighed against each other.
Keep studying
Studies11
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, on 1 Corinthians 12:1 and Frederic Godet, Commentary on First Corinthians, on 1 Corinthians 12:1.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Frederic Godet, Commentary on First Corinthians; John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.