Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 12:21
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.
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. Nay, those who are most richly endowed could very imperfectly perform their duties without the aid and cooperation of those of more humble attainments.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee] The apostle goes on, with his principal object in view, to show that the gifts and graces with which their different teachers were endowed were all necessary for their salvation, and should be collectively used; for not one of them was unnecessary, nor could they dispense with the least of them; the body of Christ needed the whole for its nourishment and support. The famous apologue of Menenius Agrippa, related by Livy, will serve to illustrate the apostle’s reasoning: the Roman people, getting into a state of insurrection and rebellion against the nobility, under pretext that the great men not only had all the honours but all the emoluments of the nation, while they were obliged to bear all the burdens, and suffer all the privations; they then in riotous assemblage left their homes and went to Mount Aventine. Matters were at last brought to such an issue, that the senators and great men were obliged to fly from the city, and the public peace was on the point of being utterly ruined: it was then thought expedient to send Menenius Agrippa to them, who was high in their esteem, having vanquished the Sabines and Samnites, and had the first triumph at Rome. This great general, who was as eloquent as he was valiant, went to the Mons Sacer, to which the insurgents had retired, and thus addressed them: Tempore, quo in homine non, ut nunc emnia in unum consentiebant, sed singulis membris suum cuique consilium, suus sermo fuerat, indignatas reliquas partes, sua cura, suo labore ac ministerio ventri omnia quaeri; ventrem, in medio quietum, nihil aliud, quam datis voluptatibus frui. Conspirasse inde, ne manus ad os cibum ferrent, nec os acciperet datum, nec dentes conficerent. Hac ira, dum ventrem fame domare vellent, ipsa una membra totumque corpus ad extremam tabem venisse. lnde apparuisse, ventris quoque haud segne ministerium esse: nec magis ali, quam alere eum, reddentem in omnes corporis partes hunc, quo vivimus vigemusque, divisum pariter in venas maturum, confecto cibo, sanquinem. T. Livii, Histor. lib. ii. cap. 32. “In that time in which the different parts of the human body were not in a state of unity as they now are, but each member had its separate office and distinct language, they all became discontented, because whatever was procured by their care, labour, and industry, was spent on the belly; while this, lying at ease in the midst of the body, did nothing but enjoy whatever was provided for it. They therefore conspired among themselves, and agreed that the hands should not convey food to the mouth, that the mouth should not receive what was offered to it, and that the teeth should not masticate whatever was brought to the mouth. Acting on this principle of revenge, and hoping to reduce the belly by famine, all the members, and the whole body itself, were at length brought into the last stage of a consumption. It then plainly appeared that the belly itself did no small service; that it contributed not less to their nourishment than they did to its support, distributing to every part that from which they derived life and vigour; for by properly concocting the food, the pure blood derived from it was conveyed by the arteries to every member.”
This sensible comparison produced the desired effect; the people were persuaded that the senators were as necessary to their existence as they were to that of the senators, and that it required the strictest union and mutual support of high and low to preserve the body politic. This transaction took place about 500 years before the Christian era, and was handed down by unbroken tradition to the time of Titus Livius, from whom I have taken it, who died in the year of our Lord 17, about forty years before St. Paul wrote this epistle. As his works were well known and universally read among the Romans in the time of the apostle, it is very probable that St. Paul had this famous apologue in view when he wrote from the 14th verse to the end of the chapter. 1Cor 12:1; 1Cor 12:14-31
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He names two of the most noble and useful members of the body, the head and the eye, which yet cannot tell the hands or the feet they have no need of them: the wise God having created nothing in vain, but made every member in the body of a man for use, as to the whole, so to the several parts of the body; the hand is useful to the eye, and the feet are of use to the head. The application of this similitude, which the apostle so much enlargeth upon, we shall have, 1Co 12:27, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. The higher cannot dispensewith the lower members.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the eye cannot say unto the hand,…. Every member of the natural body is useful and necessary. The eye, the seat of the sense of seeing, cannot say to the communicating and working hand,
I have no need of thee: I can do without thee: so the seers and overseers of the church, the ministers of the Gospel, cannot say to the liberal and munificent hands, we have no need of you; for as the one stand in need of the light, instruction, comfort, advice, and direction of the other, so the other stand in need of communication from them; and as God has made it a duty, that he that is taught in the word should communicate to him that teacheth in all good things; and as it is his ordinance that they which preach the Gospel should live of it; so he has generally ordered it in his providence, that they that teach should need such assistance:
nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. The head, which is the seat of the senses, and is superior to, and has the command and government of all the members of the body, cannot say to the lowest and most distant parts of it, the feet, you are needless and useless; so those that are set in the first place in the church, are over others in the Lord, and have the rule over them, cannot say to those that are under them, and submit unto them, even the lowest and meanest of them, that they are of no use and service to them; they can no more be without them, than the head can be without the feet, or than princes can do without subjects, or magistrates without citizens, or generals without soldiers.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Cannot say ( ). And be truthful. The superior organs need the inferior ones (the eye, the hand, the head, the feet).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And the eye cannot say unto the hand.” (ou dunatai de ho opthalmos eipen te cheiri) “And the eye is not able to say to the hand.” Since God placed members of the body, each in its own place, according to his higher will, it is not sensibly, defensively possible for it to complain.
2) “I have no need of thee:” (chreion sou ouk echo) “I have not a need of you.” What could the eye do, if there were no hand to serve a need the eye beheld, to a need of the eye, or a need in another member? Isolated and alone members are useless.
3) “Nor again the head to the feet,” (he palin he kephale tois posin) “Nor again (is it possible) the head to the feet.” The wisdom and comprehension of the head would be non-practical for service to God or man, if there were no feet to carry the body. See?
4) “I have no need of you.” “I have not a need of you.” The depraved egotism, covetousness, and arrogance of any member of the body, out of harmony with the Divine purpose of the whole body, is out of the general will of God.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
21. And the eye cannot say to the hand Hitherto he has been showing, what is the office of the less honorable members — to discharge their duty to the body, and not envy the more distinguished members. Now, on the other hand, he enjoins it upon the more honorable members, not to despise the inferior members, which they cannot dispense with. The eye excels the hand, and yet cannot despise it, or insult over it, as though it were useless; and he draws an argument from utility, to show that it ought to be thus — “Those members, that are less esteemed, are the more necessary: hence, with a view to the safety of the body, they must not be despised.” He makes use of the term weaker here, to mean despised, as in another passage, when he says that he glories in his infirmities, (2Co 12:9,) he expresses, under this term, those things which rendered him contemptible and abject.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
21. The overseer, the eye, cannot dispense with the worker, the hand. The official, the head, cannot spare the membership, the feet.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Co 12:21 . Hitherto, in 1Co 12:15-20 , this figure has been used to rebuke those who were discontented with what they considered their lesser gifts; we now come to those who were proud of their higher gifts and contemptuous towards the less highly gifted.
] of the impossibility conditioned by the indispensableness of the hand for the eye.
] as in Mat 4:7 ; Mat 5:33 , again , since the case belongs to the same category. Comp on 2Co 10:7 ; Rom 15:10 .
] the head , consequently the part of the body which stands highest, compared with the feet, the members that stand lowest. That Paul, in his specializing representation, has in view simply the corporeal members as such , and therefore introduces the head also upon the scene with the rest, without in any way thereby touching upon the idea of Christ as the Head of the church (comp on 1Co 12:12 ), is plain from the whole picture, which, in its concrete details, is as far as possible from giving occasion to allegorical interpretations of the several parts of the body.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
21 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.
Ver. 21. The eye cannot say, &c. ] Superiors may not slight their inferiors, since they cannot be without them, as one time or other they will be forced to acknowledge. It was a saying of General Vere to the king of Denmark, that kings cared not for soldiers until such time as their crowns hung on the one side of their heads.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
21 26. ] And the spiritual gifts are also necessary to one another . This is spoken in reproof of the highly endowed , who imagined they could do without those less gifted than themselves, as the preceding to those of small endowment, who were discontented with their gifts.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 12:21-31 a . 41. THE MUTUAL DEPENDENCE OF THE BODY’S MEMBERS. Multiformity, it has been shown, is of the essence of organic life. But the variously endowed members, being needful to the body, are consequently necessary to each other those that seem “weaker” sometimes the more so (1Co 12:21 f.), while the less honoured have a dignity of their own; thus all the members cherish mutual respect and fellow-feeling (1Co 12:23-26 ). This holds good of the Church, with its numerous grades of personal calling and endowment (1Co 12:27 f.). No one charism belongs to all Christians (1Co 12:29 f.). There is choice and purpose in God’s distributive appointments, which leave, moreover, room for man’s personal effort. We should desire the best of His gifts (1Co 12:31 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
1Co 12:21 personifies again the physical members, in the fashion of 1Co 12:15 f.: there the inferior disparaged itself as though it were no part of the body at all; here the superior disparages its fellow, affecting independence. “The eye (might wish to say but) cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee! or the head in turn to the feet, I have no need of you!” The eye and head are imagined looking superciliously on their companions; in 1Co 12:15 f. the ear and foot play the part of discontented rivals. a moral and practical impossibility ( cf. 1Co 10:21 ): at every turn the eye wants the hand, or the head calls on the foot, in order to reach its ends; the keen eye and scheming head of the paralytic what a picture of impotence! The famous Roman fable of the Belly and the Members is recalled by the Apostle’s apologue. There is no such thing in the physical, nor in the social, fabric as independence. ( cf. 1Co 3:20 , 2Co 10:7 , Rom 15:10 ), vicissim (Hn [1911] ), rather than iterum (Vg [1912] ) or rursum (Bz [1913] ), adduces another instance of the same kind as the former.
[1911] C. F. G. Heinrici’s Erklrung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer’s krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).
[1912] Latin Vulgate Translation.
[1913] Beza’s Nov. Testamentum: Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab., 1642).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
cannot = is not (Greek. ou) able to.
unto = to.
no. App-105.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
21-26.] And the spiritual gifts are also necessary to one another. This is spoken in reproof of the highly endowed, who imagined they could do without those less gifted than themselves, as the preceding to those of small endowment, who were discontented with their gifts.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 12:21. , need) To this refer the word necessary, 1Co 12:22.- , the head) the highest part.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 12:21
1Co 12:21
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.- One member of the body cannot do without another. The eye needs the foot, the hand, the head. The eye is a member of the body, and depends upon the health and life of the body for its own good and vigor. The body could not maintain its life without the offices of the hands and feet. So the eye depends on the hands and feet for ability to perform its office. So of the ear. So of all the members. They depend one upon the other as members of the body.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Num 10:31, Num 10:32, 1Sa 25:32, Ezr 10:1-5, Neh 4:16-21, Job 29:11
Reciprocal: Exo 18:24 – General Jdg 13:23 – his wife Pro 22:2 – rich Act 18:26 – expounded Act 28:15 – he thanked 1Co 12:17 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 12:21-23. And the eye In its commanding station, and possessed as it is of light and discernment; cannot say to the hand Endowed with neither of these qualities, and the mere instrument of action; I have no need of thee For by the hand the whole body is maintained and fed, and the eye itself preserved and defended. Nor again the head Elevated as it is, and so admirably furnished with all the nerves and organs planted in it, cannot say to the feet The most distant and extreme parts, mean as their form and office seems; I have no need of you Since by them the head and all the other parts of the body are supported, and are removed from place to place. The apostle mentions the two principal members of the body, the eye and the head, and affirms that they need the service of the inferior members, to teach such as hold the most honourable offices in the church not to despise those who are placed in the lowest stations: for as in the body, the hand needs the direction of the eye, and the eye the assistance of the hands, so in the church they who follow the active occupations of life, need the direction of the teachers. On the other hand, the teachers need to be supported by the labour of the active members. Nay, those members which seem to be more feeble Because unable to endure external injury, such as the brain, the lungs, the heart, and bowels; or the veins, arteries, and other minute channels in the body; are more abundantly necessary For without them the animal functions can by no means be discharged, nor the body preserved in life and health. And likewise those members which we think to be less honourable Or graceful, on account of their place and use; upon these we bestow Greek, , these we surround with more abundant honour By carefully covering them. And our uncomely parts have By virtue of the dress we put upon them; more abundant comeliness Than most of the rest. It is as if he had said, The face, on which the image of God is particularly stamped, we leave uncovered; but as for those parts which decency or custom teaches us to conceal, we contrive not only to cover, but also, as far as we conveniently can, to adorn by covering. This observation, concerning the pains which we take in adorning or concealing the weak and uncomely members of our body, the apostle makes to teach the higher members of the church to advance the honour of the whole body, by concealing the weakness and imperfections of the lowest, and by setting off their gifts and graces, whatever they may be, to the best advantage, for the reason mentioned 1Co 12:25. And when such attention is paid to the inferior, by the superior members of the church, the inferior, laying aside all envy, should willingly suffer the superior members to recommend themselves to the esteem of the whole body, by the lustre and usefulness of their more excellent gifts.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 21, 22. But 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. 22. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary.
The , but, is sufficiently supported by the documents. As in 1Co 12:18 Paul had contrasted God’s doing with the saying of the foot and the ear, he here contrasts with God’s doing the saying of the eye or the head. The eye, privileged as it is by its eminent function and noble position in the body, cannot dispense with the inferior members, the hand, for example, without which it could not appropriate the objects which seem to it desirable. The same is the case with the head in relation to the feet. The head is named here, not as representing the Christ, but as uniting all the organs whose functions are most essential to life. What would the ear, the tongue, the nose, the palate do, if the feet were not at their service?
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
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. [The interdependence of the members is here shown. If, as we have seen above, the humbly envious one felt as if he were not included in the church, the proudly superior member felt as if the humbler one should be excluded. Here we find the eye and hand associated contrary to the usage in verses 15 and 16. Those who are puffed up with some great gift do not see the need of any other gifts save their own. But they tolerate those who have their gift in less degree, for such form a background to show off their excellencies. We have seen vain singers who esteemed the preaching as of very little importance, and vice versa. Paul continues to discuss this interdependence.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
12:21 {12} 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.
(12) Now on the other hand, he speaks to those who were endued with more excellent gifts, exhorting them not to despise the inferiors as unprofitable, and as though they served to no use. For God, he says, has in such sort tempered this inequality, that the more excellent and beautiful members can in no wise lack the more abject and such as we are ashamed of, and that they should have more care to see to them and to cover them: that by this means the necessity which is on both parts, might keep the whole body in peace and harmony. And that even though if each part is considered apart, they are of different degrees and conditions, yet because they are joined together, they have a community both in prosperity and affliction.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
It is interesting that Paul used the head and the feet as examples, the top of the body and the bottom. He may have been reminding those who felt superior that those whom they regarded as inferior were also necessary (cf. 1Co 11:17-34). Too often because we differ from each other we also differ with each other.