to place (in the widest application · verb — second aorist middle indicative, 3rd person singular
God
θεὸςtheos
G2316
figuratively · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title
set
τίθημιtíthēmi
G5087
to place (in the widest application
members
μέλη,melē
G3196
a limb or part of the body · noun — accusative plural neuter
every
ἕκαστονhekaston
G1538
each or every · adjective — accusative singular neuter
one
ἓνhen
G1520
one · adjective — accusative singular neuter
them
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural neuter
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
body
σώματιsōmati
G4983
the body (as a sound whole) · noun — dative singular neuter
as
καθὼςkathōs
G2531
just (or inasmuch) as · conjunction
him
ἠθέλησεν.ēthelēsen
G2309
to determine (as an active option from subjective impul… · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Corinthians 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, he…
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but…
1 Corinthians 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
1 Corinthians 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
Psalms 135:6 Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
Luke 10:21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the…
1 Corinthians 12:24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 12:12-26
The apostle here makes out the truth of what was above asserted, and puts the gifted men among the Corinthians in mind of their duty, by comparing the church of Christ to a human body.
I. By telling us that one body may have many members, and that the many members of the same body make but one body (Co1 12:12): As the body is one, and hath many members, and all members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ; that is, Christ mystical, as divines commonly speak. Christ and his church making one body, as head and members, this body is made up of many parts or members, yet but one body; for all the members are baptized into the same body, and made to drink of the same Spir…
now--as the case really is.
every one--each severally.
Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 12:15
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.
John Gill on 1 Corinthians 12:18
But now hath God set the members,.... The members of a natural body, as they are all made and fashioned by God in the form they be, so they are each of them set by him in the place they are:
everyone of them in the body as it hath pleased him; according to his sovereign will, without consulting any; and each stands in the best situation and position they could be put, and for the greatest service and usefulness to the whole: so God, and not man, hath set every member in the mystical body, the church, in such a place and part of it, as he himself thought fit; some in a higher, others in a lower station, but all for the good of the body; and therefore each member ought to be content with his…
Then because after all they were yet disturbed: that which he had done above, the same he doth also now. For as there he first alleged the expediency to comfort them and afterwards stopped their mouths, vehemently saying, "But all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one man severally even as He will:" so also here having stated reasons for which he showed that it was profitable that all should so be, he refers the whole again to the counsel of God, saying, "But now God hath set the members each one of them in the body, even as it pleased Him." Even as he said of the Spirit, "as He will," so also here, "as it pleased Him." Now do not thou seek further into the cause, why it is thus and why not thus. For though we have ten thousand reasons to give, we shall not be so able to show them that it is well done, as when we say, that as the best Artificer pleased, so it came to pass. For as it is expedient, so He wills it. Now if in this body of ours we do not curiously enquire about the members, much more in the Church. And see his thoughtfulness in that he doth not state the difference which arises from their nature nor that from their operation, but that from their local situation. For "now," saith he, "God hath set the members each one of them in the body even as it pleased Him." And he said well, "each one," pointing out that the use extends to all. For thou canst not say, "This He hath Himself placed but not that: but every one according to His will, so it is situated." So that to the foot also it is profitable that it should be so stationed, and not to the head only: and if it should invert the order and leaving its own place, should go to another, though it might seem to have bettered its condition, it would be the undoing and ruin of the whole. For it both falls from its own, and reaches not the other station.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Tongues, Gift of — Granted on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4), in fulfilment of a promise Christ had made to his disciples (Mark 16:17). What this gift actually was has been a subject of much discussion. Some have…
Selfishness · Inconsistent with communion of saints — Inconsistent with communion of saints
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 12:14-27
1 Corinthians 12:14-27
14. For the body is not one member, but many.
14. Etenim corpus non est unum membrum, sed multa.
15. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
15. Si dixerit pes: Quoniam non sum manus, non sum ex corpore: an propterea non est ex corpore?
16. 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?
16. Et si dixerit auris: Quia non sum oculus, non sum ex corpore: an propterea non est ex corpore?
17. If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
17. Si toturn corpus oculus, ubi auditus? si t…
Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 12:14-21
These verses move from the image of a physical body to the image of the church as a spiritual body. Every part of the body is important and essential to its proper functioning. Believers should neither boast of their spiritual ministry nor belittle it in comparison to the ministries of other believers. God, who made the body, has put each part just where he wants it (12:18).
