1 Corinthians 12:15
in 1 Corinthians 12If 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
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
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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This verse in 1 Corinthians 12
Commentary
12 notes on this verseHe 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 …
This site's exposition
For the body does not consist
on 1 Corinthians 12:14-17
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.
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
This however he states last; but for the present he goes to the members themselves, saying thus: "If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it 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 therefore not of the body?" For if the one being made inferior and the other superior, doth not allow their being of the body, the whole is done away. Do not say therefore, "I am not the body, because I am inferior." For the foot also hath the inferior post, yet is it of the body: for the being or not being part of the body, is not from the one lying in this place and the other in that; (which is what constitutes difference of place;) but from the being conjoined or separated. For the being or not being a body, arises from the having been made one or not. But do thou, I pray, mark his considerate way, how he applies their words to our members. For as he said above, "These things have I in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos," just so likewise here, to make his argument free from invidiousness and acceptable, he introduces the members speaking: that when they shall hear nature answering them, being thus convicted by experience herself and by the general voice, they may have nothing further to oppose. "For say, if you will," saith he, "this very thing, murmur as you please, you cannot be out of the body. For as the law of nature, so much more doth the power of grace guard all things and preserve them entire." And see how he kept to the rule of having nothing superfluous; not working out his argument on all the members, but on two only and these the extremes; having specified both the most honorable of all, the eye, and the meanest of all, the feet. […]
This means that a weak brother cannot say that he is not a part of the body simply because he is not strong.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then when he says: If the foot should say, he clarifies what he had said by using certain members as examples. First, the members involved in motion, and he mentions two members: the foot as the more ignoble member in that it treads the earth …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
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.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
If the foot shall say,....
He tells us that the church is the body of Christ, and the members are variously gifted for the benefit of the whole body, and each particular member,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
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.
If the foot shall say, etc. - As all the members of the body are necessarily dependent on each other, and minister to the general support of the system, so is it in the Church. All the private members are intimately connected among themselves, and also with their pastors; without which union no Church can subsist.
The words behind it
21 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐὰν | ean | If | G1437 → | 352 times |
| εἴπῃ | eipe | shall say | G2036 → | 925 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πούς· | pous | foot; | G4228 → | 93 times |
| ὅτι | hoti | Because | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| εἰμὶ | eimi | I am | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| χείρ, | cheir | a hand, | G5495 → | 175 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| εἰμὶ | eimi | I am | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἐκ | ek | of | G1537 → | 911 times |
| τοῦ | tou | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| σώματος, | somatos | body, | G4983 → | 142 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| παρὰ | para | on account of | G3844 → | 192 times |
| τοῦτο | touto | this | G3778 → | 1381 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἔστιν | estin | is it | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἐκ | ek | of | G1537 → | 911 times |
| τοῦ | tou | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| σώματος; | somatos | body? | G4983 → | 142 times |
ἐὰνIf
eanG1437 →352 times
εἴπῃshall say
eipeG2036 →925 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
πούς·foot;
pousG4228 →93 times
ὅτιBecause
hotiG3754 →1292 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
εἰμὶI am
eimiG1510 →2333 times
χείρ,a hand,
cheirG5495 →175 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
εἰμὶI am
eimiG1510 →2333 times
ἐκof
ekG1537 →911 times
τοῦthe
touG3588 →19766 times
σώματος,body,
somatosG4983 →142 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
παρὰon account of
paraG3844 →192 times
τοῦτοthis
toutoG3778 →1381 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἔστινis it
estinG1510 →2333 times
ἐκof
ekG1537 →911 times
τοῦthe
touG3588 →19766 times
σώματος;body?
somatosG4983 →142 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 14:9But 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…
it 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.
- Judges 9:8–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
On this verse
About 1 Corinthians

This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 30; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.
