1 Corinthians 12:15 BSB

1 Corinthians 12:15

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

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.

KJV

If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

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Commentary

4 voices

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on 1 Corinthians (1107)

He presents the members of the body as speaking and murmuring that they are diminished before the other members, in order that, having demonstrated the senselessness of the murmuring of the members, he might expose those who in the Church murmur that there are some …

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

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.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

21 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ἐὰν	ean	If	G1437 →
εἴπῃ	eipē	shall say	G2036 →
ὁ	ho	the	G3588 →
πούς·	pous	foot;	G4228 →
ὅτι	hoti	Because	G3754 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
εἰμὶ	eimi	I am	G1510 →
χείρ,	cheir	a hand,	G5495 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
εἰμὶ	eimi	I am	G1510 →
ἐκ	ek	of	G1537 →
τοῦ	tou	the	G3588 →
σώματος,	sōmatos	body,	G4983 →
οὐ	ou	not	G3756 →
παρὰ	para	on account of	G3844 →
τοῦτο	touto	this	G3778 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
ἔστιν	estin	is it	G1510 →
ἐκ	ek	of	G1537 →
τοῦ	tou	the	G3588 →
σώματος;	sōmatos	body?	G4983 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk5

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
2 Kings 14:9
But Jehoash king of Israel replied to Amaziah king of Judah: “A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ Then a…
leads to
- Judges 9:8–15
  One day the trees set out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’
- Hosea 9:6
  For even if they flee destruction, Egypt will gather them and Memphis will bury them. Their precious silver will be taken over by thistles, and thorns will overrun their tents.
- Proverbs 26:9
  Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11
  So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
- 2 Samuel 12:1–4
  Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor.