English Standard Version
1 Corinthians 12:14
14For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
1 Corinthians 12:14 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For the body is not one member, but many.
- New International Version (NIV)Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For in fact the body is not one member but many.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.
Context of 1 Corinthians 12:14
12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If 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. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body.
Read all of 1 Corinthians 121 Corinthians 12:14 word by word
καὶ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα οὐκ ἔστιν ἓν μέλος ἀλλὰ πολλά.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 12:14
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 12:14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 14For the body is not one member - The mystical body, the Church, as well as the natural body, is composed of many members.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 14For the body - The body is made up of many members, which have various offices. So it is in the church. We are to expect the same variety there; and we are not to presume either that all will be alike, or that any member that God has placed there will be useless.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-26Verses 12-26 Christ and his church form one body, as Head and members. Christians become members of this body by baptism. The outward rite is of Divine institution; it is a sign of the new birth, and is called therefore the washing of regeneration, Tit 3:5. But it is by the Spirit, only by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, that we are made members of Christ's body. And by communion with Christ at the Lord's supper, we are strengthened, not by drinking the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-21These verses shift 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 for it to work well. Believers should not brag about their spiritual roles or think less of them compared to others. God, who created the body, has placed each part exactly where he wants it (12:18).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1414. Translate, "For the body also." The analogy of the body, not consisting exclusively of one, but of many members, illustrates the mutual dependence of the various members in the one body, the Church. The well-known fable of the belly and the other members, spoken by Menenius Agrippa, to the seceding commons [Livy, 2.32], was probably before Paul's mind, stored as it was with classical literature.Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Corinthians 12:14
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries