1 Corinthians 12:29
in 1 Corinthians 12Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
KJV
Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
⋯
This verse in 1 Corinthians 12
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAre all apostles?.... No some are prophets, as distinct from apostles; and some are teachers, as distinct from them both, and some are neither: are all prophets? no; some are apostles, above them, and some are teachers, inferior to them; and but very few there were who had that peculiar character and gift: are all teachers? no; the far greater part of the members of churches are hearers, or persons that are taught in the word; are neither in the office of teaching, nor have they the qualifications for it.
This site's exposition
Are all apostles? are all prophets?
on 1 Corinthians 12:29-30
Are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, are all workers of miracles: the seven rhetorical questions of these two verses each expect the answer no, closing the chapter's argument by returning to its opening problem, since some Corinthians apparently wished every believer to possess the same gift, tongues in particular. The form itself is the answer, since a question expecting no for every gift on the list rules out any single gift, tongues included, as the mark of a Spirit-filled believer. The bench ties the questions back to verse 11, one Spirit dividing severally as he will, the diversity Paul has been defending since the chapter opened.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A church has only one bishop, and prophecy is not given to everybody.
Such are the ways of all those who do not work, but go hunting for tales, and think to themselves that this is profitable and right. For such persons are like those idle and prating widows "who go wandering about among houses" [1 Timothy 5:13] …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Then when he says, Are all apostles? he clarifies the distinction among these ministries, saying, Are all in the Church apostles? As if to say: No! Are all teachers? This shows the variety of these ministries: "In the fullness of his knowledge the Lord distinguished …
When the greater and lesser gifts had been enumerated in order, it was natural for them to be grieved. Therefore he again comforts those who had the lesser gifts. Why, he says, are you sorrowful that you do not have, perhaps, the gift of prophecy? …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Are all apostles, etc. - That is: All are not apostles, all are not prophets, etc.; God has distributed his various gifts among various persons, each of whom is necessary for the complete edification of the body of Christ. On these subjects see the notes on 1Co 12:7-10 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Are all apostles? ... - These questions imply, with strong emphasis, that it could not be, and ought not to be, that there should be perfect equality of endowment. It was not a matter of fact that all were equal, or that all were qualified for the offices which others sustained.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| μὴ | me | Surely not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| πάντες | pantes | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| ἀπόστολοι; | apostoloi | [are] apostles? | G652 → | 79 times |
| μὴ | me | Surely not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| πάντες | pantes | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| προφῆται; | prophetai | [are] prophets? | G4396 → | 144 times |
| μὴ | me | Surely not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| πάντες | pantes | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| διδάσκαλοι; | didaskaloi | [are] teachers? | G1320 → | |
| μὴ | me | Surely not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| πάντες | pantes | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| δυνάμεις; | dunameis | [do] miracles? | G1411 → | 119 times |
μὴSurely not
meG3361 →1066 times
πάντεςall
pantesG3956 →1235 times
ἀπόστολοι;[are] apostles?
apostoloiG652 →79 times
μὴSurely not
meG3361 →1066 times
πάντεςall
pantesG3956 →1235 times
προφῆται;[are] prophets?
prophetaiG4396 →144 times
μὴSurely not
meG3361 →1066 times
πάντεςall
pantesG3956 →1235 times
διδάσκαλοι;[are] teachers?
didaskaloiG1320 →
μὴSurely not
meG3361 →1066 times
πάντεςall
pantesG3956 →1235 times
δυνάμεις;[do] miracles?
dunameisG1411 →119 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 9 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 Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Clement, Two Epistles on Virginity; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.