a limb or part of the body · noun — nominative singular neuter
where
ποῦpou
G4226
as adverb of place · adverb — interrogative
body
σῶμα;sōma
G4983
the body (as a sound whole) · noun — nominative singular neuter
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).
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…
where were the body--which, by its very idea, "hath many members" (Co1 12:12, Co1 12:14), [ALFORD].
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 12:19
And if they were all one member,.... As all eye, or all ear, or all hand, or all foot:
where were the body? where would be the body? it would not be a body consisting of such proper and suitable members, as now it is: so if the community of the saints were either all ministers, or all hearers, &c. there would be no body, consisting of different persons, to receive any benefit or usefulness from either; the church of Christ would not be that uniform, useful, and consistent community it is.
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…
The Church Fathers
If everyone in the church were equal, there would be no body, because a body is governed according to the difference in the functions of its members.
"And if they were all one member, where were the body?" "But now are they many members, but one body." Thus having silenced them sufficiently by God's own arrangement, again he states reasons. And he neither doth this always nor that, but alternates and varies his discourse. Since on the one hand, he who merely silences, confounds the hearer, and he, on the contrary, who accustoms him to demand reasons for all things, injures him in the matter of faith; for this cause then Paul is continually practising both the one and the other, that they may both believe and may not be confounded; and after silencing them, he again gives a reason likewise. And mark his earnestness in the combat and the completeness of his victory. For from what things they supposed themselves unequal in honor because in them there was great diversity, even from these things he shows that for this very reason they are equal in honor. How, I will tell you. "If all were one member," saith he, "where were the body?" Now what he means is, If there were not among you great variety, ye could not be a body; and not being a body, ye could not be one; and not being one, ye could not be equal in honor. Whence it follows again that if ye were all equal in honor, ye were not a body; and not being a body, ye were not one; and not being one, how could ye be equal in honor? As it is, however, because ye are not all endowed with some one gift, therefore are ye a body; and being a body, ye are all one, and differ nothing from one another in this that ye are a body. So that this very difference is that which chiefly causeth your equality in honor. And accordingly he adds, "But now they are many members, yet one body."
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).
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).
