1 Corinthians 12:21 BSB

1 Corinthians 12:21

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you.” Nor can the head say to the feet, “I do not need you.”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: or again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

KJV

And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

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Commentary

2 voices

Jerome

HOMILIES ON MATTHEW 85 (420)

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.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

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

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

22 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
οὐ	ou	Not	G3756 →
δύναται	dunatai	is able	G1410 →
δὲ	de	now	G1161 →
ὁ	ho	the	G3588 →
ὀφθαλμὸς	ophthalmos	eye	G3788 →
εἰπεῖν	eipein	to say	G2036 →
τῇ	tēa	to the	G3588 →
χειρί·	cheiri	hand;	G5495 →
χρείαν	chreian	Need	G5532 →
σου	sou	of you	G4771 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
ἔχω,	echō	I have,	G2192 →
ἢ	ē	Or	G2228 →
πάλιν	palin	again	G3825 →
ἡ	hē	the	G3588 →
κεφαλὴ	kephalē	head	G2776 →
τοῖς	tois	to the	G3588 →
ποσίν·	posin	feet;	G4228 →
χρείαν	chreian	Need	G5532 →
ὑμῶν	humōn	of you	G4771 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
ἔχω·	echō	I have;	G2192 →

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 walk8

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
1 Samuel 25:32
Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!
leads to
- Luke 1:68
  “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.
- Psalms 72:18
  Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.
- Exodus 18:10
  Jethro declared, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from the hand of the Egyptians.
- Genesis 24:27
  saying, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to…
- 2 Corinthians 8:16
  But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same devotion I have for you.
Through
Job 29:11
For those who heard me called me blessed, and those who saw me commended me,
leads to
- Luke 4:22
  All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that came from His lips. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” they asked.
- Job 31:20
  if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep,
- Proverbs 29:2
  When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.