Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 12:26
And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.
26. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it ] This is a matter of the most ordinary experience in the human body. A pain in any portion, even the most remote from the seats of life, affects the whole. A glance at history will shew us that it is the same with the body politic. Whatever is physically, morally, or spiritually injurious to any one portion of society, or of the Church of Christ, is sure in the long run to produce injury, moral and spiritual deterioration to the rest.
or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it ] St Chrysostom eloquently remarks here, “Is the head crowned? All the man is glorified. Do the lips speak? The eyes also laugh and rejoice.” This part of the verse is as true as the former. Whatever tends to exalt the character and purify the aims of any one class in society, is sure in a greater or less degree to affect every other. If the one thought is calculated to alarm us by calling our attention to the infinite mischief which may be wrought by one act of thoughtlessness or selfishness, it is an immense encouragement to be reminded by the other that no work for good, undertaken from unselfish motives and carried out in an unselfish spirit, can possibly be without effect.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And whether one member suffer – One member, or part of the body.
All the members suffer with it – This, we all know, is the case with the body. A pain in the foot, the hand, or the head excites deep solicitude. The interest is not confined to the part affected; but we feel that we ourselves are affected, and that our body, as a whole, demands our care. The word suffer here refers to disease, or sickness. It is true also that not only we feel an interest in the part that is affected, but that disease in any one part tends to diffuse itself through, and to affect the whole frame. If not arrested, it is conveyed by the blood through all the members until life itself is destroyed. It is not by mere interest, then, or sympathy, but it is by the natural connection and the inevitable result that a diseased member tends to affect the whole frame. There is not, indeed, in the church the same physical connection and physical effect, but the union is really not less close and important, nor is it the less certain that the conduct of one member will affect all. It is implied here also, that we should feel a deep interest in the welfare of all the members of the body of Christ. If one is tempted or afflicted, the other members of the church should feel it, and bear one anothers burdens, and so fulfil his law. If one is poor, the others should aid him, and supply his needs; if one is persecuted and opposed for righteousness sake, the others should sympathize with him, and make common cause with him. In all things pertaining to religion and to their mutual welfare, they should feel that they have a common cause, and regard it as a privilege to aid one another. Nor should a man regard it as any more a burden and hardship to aid a poor or afflicted brother in the church, than it should be deemed a hardship that the head, and the heart, and the hands should sympathize when any other member of the body is diseased.
Or one member be honoured – If applied to the body, this means, if one member or part be regarded and treated with special care; be deemed honorable; or be in a sound, healthy, and vigorous condition. If applied to the church, it means, if one of its members should be favored with extraordinary endowments; or be raised to a station of honor and influence above his brethren.
All the members rejoice with it – That is, in the body, all the other members partake of the benefit and honor. If one member be sound and healthy, the benefit extends to all. If the hands, the feet, the heart, the lungs, the brain be in a healthy condition, the advantage is felt by all the members, and all derive advantage from it. So in the church. If one member is favored with remarkable talent, or is raised to a station of influence, and exerts his influence in the cause of Christ, all the members of the church partake of the benefit. It is for the common good; and all should rejoice in it. This consideration should repress envy at the elevation of others, and should lead all the members of a church to rejoice when God, by his direct agency, or by the arrangements of his providence, confers extraordinary endowments, or gives opportunity for extended usefulness to others.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 26. And whether one member suffer] As there is a mutual exertion for the general defence, so there is a mutual sympathy. If the eye, the hand, the foot, c., be injured, the whole man grieves and if by clothing, or any thing else, any particular member or part is adorned, strengthened, or better secured, it gives a general pleasure to the whole man.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
From this union of the members in the body natural, of all the members proceedeth a natural sympathy, that if one member suffereth, all are afflicted, and ready to contribute to the relief and help each of other; and likewise the honour that is reflected on the body, is reflected on all the parts, and all rejoice in the good that affecteth any one single member.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. AndAccordingly.
all . . . suffer withit“When a thorn enters the heel, the whole body feels it,and is concerned: the back bends, the belly and thighs contractthemselves, the hands come forward and draw out the thorn, the headstoops, and the eyes regard the affected member with intense gaze”[CHRYSOSTOM].
rejoice with it“Whenthe head is crowned, the whole man feels honored, the mouthexpresses, and the eyes look, gladness” [CHRYSOSTOM].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And whether one member suffer,…. Pain; even the meanest, lowest, and most distant, as the foot or hand, toe or finger:
all the members suffer with it; are more or less affected therewith, and bear part of the distress; as is easily discerned, by their different forms and motions on such an occasion: so when anyone member of the mystical body is in affliction, whether inward or outward, of body or mind, the rest are, or should be, affected with it, condole, sympathize, help, and assist; and remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them, as if they themselves were in bonds, and them that suffer adversity, whether spiritual or temporal, as being in the body, not only in the flesh, but as being part of the body, the church; and therefore should weep with them that weep, and bear a part with them in their sorrows. The Jews have a saying f, that
“if one brother dies, all the brethren grieve; and if one of a society dies, , “the whole society grieves”;”
and also another g,
“that everyone that afflicts himself, , “with the congregations”, is worthy to see or enjoy the comfort of the congregation or church;”
or one member be honoured; by being set in the highest place, and employed to the greatest usefulness, or by being most richly and beautifully clothed and adorned:
all the members rejoice with it; as sharing in the honour, Or benefit of it: so if one member of the church of Christ is honoured with an high office, with great gifts, with a large measure of grace, spiritual light, knowledge, and experience, with great discoveries of the love of God, with the presence of Christ, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, or with the good things of this life, and an heart to make use of them for the interest of religion, the other members rejoice at it; for so it becomes the saints to rejoice with them that rejoice, and be glad, both at the temporal and spiritual prosperity of each other: and upon the whole it is clear, that the meanest have no reason to be discouraged, nor the highest and greatest to be proud and elated.
f T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 105. 2. & 106. 1. Vid. Maimon. Hilch. Ebel, c. 13. sect. 12. & Seder Olam Rabba, p. 9. g T. Bab. Taanith. fol. 11. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Suffer with it (). Medical term in this sense in Hippocrates and Galen. In N.T only here and Ro 8:17 (of our suffering with Christ). One of Solon’s Laws allowed retaliation by any one for another’s injuries. Plato (Republic, V, 462) says the body politic “feels the hurt” as the whole body feels a hurt finger.
Rejoice with it (). This is fortunately true also. One may tingle with joy all over the body thanks to the wonderful nervous system and to the relation between mind and matter. See 13:6 for joy of love with truth.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Suffer with it. Compare Plutarch of Solon’s Laws : “If any one was beaten or maimed or suffered any violence, any man that would and was able might prosecute the wrongdoer; intending by this to accustom the citizens, like members of the same body, to resent and be sensible of one another’s injuries” (Solon). And Plato : “As in the body, when but a finger is hurt, the whole frame, drawn towards the soul and forming one realm under the ruling power therein, feels the hurt and sympathizes all together with the part affected” (” Republic, ” 5, 462).
Is honored [] . Or glorified. Receives anything which contributes to its soundness or comeliness. So Chrysostom : “The head is crowned, and all the members have a share in the honor; the eyes laugh when the mouth speaks.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And whether one member suffer,” (kai ete poschei en melos) “And whether (wherever) one member suffers.” So closely tied, united, or symphonized by reflex and impulse are all members of the body so that hurt, injury, or pain shocks the rest of the members.
2) “All the members suffer with it;” (sumpachei panta ta mele) “Suffers with it all the members.” All the members of the body suffer when one has a headache, stomach ache, carbuncle, or broken finger. Even so the members of the local congregation, the church, should by charismatic unity of the Spirit share care for one another.
3) “Or one member be honoured – (eite doksazetai melos) “Or whether (wherever) a member is glorified.” The heart does not experience either gladness or sadness alone. And when the mind learns, is trained, the whole body is honored, glorified, helped.
4) “All the members rejoice with it.” (sugchairci panta ta mele) “All the members rejoice or are in symphony with (it).” All members of the body feel better when a pain has gone. Joy, gladness, coordinated reflexive joy, surges through the whole of man. Even the infantile church member should recognize that not all church members can have the same calling, gift, or special work in the Lord’s church body. All cannot be the pastor, deacons, or choir directors, or musicians. The covert, less conspicuous, less demonstrably gifted members are honored of God if and as they serve Him in symphonic harmony. There are no unimportant gifts, talents, or members, in any church of the Lord. Let each be diligent in his own calling, place of service to God daily, See 1Co 7:20-24; 1Co 15:58.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
26. Whether one member suffers “Such a measure of fellow-feeling.” ( συμπάθεια ,) (761) says he, “is to be seen in the human body, that, if any inconvenience is felt by any member, all the others grieve along with it, and, on the other hand, rejoice along with it, in its prosperity. Hence there is no room there for envy or contempt.” To be honored, here, is taken in a large sense, as meaning, to be in prosperity and happiness. Nothing, however, is better fitted to promote harmony than this community of interest, when every one feels that, by the prosperity of others, he is proportionally enriched, and, by their penury, impoverished.
(761) The term is made use of in this sense by classical authors. Polyb. 22, 11, 12. See Calvin’s Harmony, vol. 2, p. 232. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) And whether one member suffer.This verse completes the statement of the perfect unity of the members in one body and with one another. They are not only physically joined together, but they are so united as to feel together.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. One all suffer So wonderfully is our nervous system diffused through the body that every part sympathizes with every other part, and the whole with any one part.
All rejoice Joy, like pain, experienced in one part becomes the joy of the whole. A striking illustration of the oneness of a true Christian Church.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it.’
Indeed the literal body is so made one that when one member of a literal body is in pain the whole body is aware of it and suffers, for it affects the whole. When we have a raging toothache, for example, it affects the functioning of the whole body. In the same way Christ’s body should be so one that when a member of Christ suffers, the whole of Christ’s body should suffer with him, and indeed his suffering does, like a toothache, affect the functioning of the whole body, even if only in a small way. The body cannot feel whole while one member is in pain. And the same applies when one member is honoured. The whole body is (and should be) so united that it rejoices in his being honoured, for they share in his honour. Such should be the oneness of Christ’s body in its divers manifestations.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Co 12:26 . And how perfectly is this design of God realized in the mutual sympathy of the members! This happy result of the divine appointment stands most suitably here at the close of the whole discussion before the application ensues in 1Co 12:27 , although Hofmann denies the connection of thought.
] is glorified , which may take place practically by flourishing growth, by adornment, dress, anointing, and the like, and further by recognition of its usefulness, beauty, strength, dexterity, and so forth.
In view of the sympathy of the whole organism, and in consideration of the personifying style of the description, the concrete literal sense of the verse ought by no means to be modified.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
Ver. 26. And whether one man suffer ] This spiritual sympathy, mirum est quam frigide tractetur inter Christianos hodie, saith Aretius on this text. See Trapp on “ 1Co 12:20 “ See Trapp on “ 1Co 12:27 “ Luther in a certain epistle of his to Lampertus Thorn, a prisoner for Christ, thus writeth, Consolabor me quod vestra vincula men sunt, vestri carceres et ignes mei sunt; sunt vero, dum ea confiteor et praedico, vobisque simul compatior, et congratulor, that is, I doubt (and it is a grief to me) that I shall never have the honour of martyrdom as you have. But herein I can comfort myself, that your bonds are my bonds, your imprisonment and burning at a stake mine; for so they are so long as I confess and extol them; so long as I both suffer with you and rejoice with you. (Tom. ii. Epist.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
26. ] , and accordingly , in matter of fact: we see that God’s temperament of the body has not failed of its purpose, for the members sympathize most intimately with one another.
] , , , . , , . Chrys. p. 282.
] Chrys. again with equal beauty instances, , , (ibid.). But perhaps the analogy requires that we should rather understand . of those things which physically refresh or benefit the member, e.g. anointing or nourishment .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 12:26 illustrates the unselfish solicitude of the bodily organs; the nervous connexion makes it a veritable ( ). Plato applies the same analogy to the State in a striking passage in his Politicus , 462C;.see also Cm [1929] , ad loc [1930] ( glorificatur , Cv [1931] ; not gloriatur , Vg [1932] ) goes beyond nervous sympathy; “ is more than ” (Ed [1933] ): for , applied to the body , cf. 1Co 15:40 ff., Phi 3:21 . Cm [1934] says finely, “When the head is crowned, the whole man feels itself glorified; when the mouth speaks, the eyes laugh and are filled with gladness”.
[1929] John Chrysostom’s Homili ( 407).
[1930] ad locum , on this passage.
[1931] Calvin’s In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii .
[1932] Latin Vulgate Translation.
[1933] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2
[1934] John Chrysostom’s Homili ( 407).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 1Co 12:26
26And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
1Co 12:26 “if. . .if” These are first class conditional sentences (eite with present indicative, cf. 2Co 1:6; with no verb, cf. Rom 12:6-8; 1Co 3:22; 1Co 8:5; 1Co 14:27; 2Co 5:10) which express Paul’s desire as to how believers should treat each other (cf. Rom 12:15).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
whether = if at least. Greek. eite. Compare App-118.
suffer with it = suffer together. Greek. sumpascho. Only here and Rom 8:17.
or. Greek. eite, as above.
honoured = glorified. See 1Co 6:20. with it = together.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
26.] , and accordingly, in matter of fact: we see that Gods temperament of the body has not failed of its purpose, for the members sympathize most intimately with one another.
] , , , . , , . Chrys. p. 282.
] Chrys. again with equal beauty instances, , , (ibid.). But perhaps the analogy requires that we should rather understand . of those things which physically refresh or benefit the member, e.g. anointing or nourishment.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 12:26. ) rejoice with it. Both this expression and suffer with not only denote the affection, but also the effect.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 12:26
1Co 12:26
And whether one member suffereth, all the members suffer with it;-[So wonderfully is the nervous system diffused through the body that every part sympathizes with every other part, and the whole with any part. They are not only physically joined together, but they are so united as to feel together.]
or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.-[All the members partake of the benefit. If one member is sound and healthy, the benefit extends to all. If the hands, the feet, the heart, the lungs, the brain be in a healthy condition, the advantage is felt by all the members, and all derive advantage from it.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Rom 12:15, 2Co 11:28, 2Co 11:29, Gal 6:2, Heb 13:3, 1Pe 3:8,*Gr.
Reciprocal: Gen 42:24 – wept Exo 18:9 – General Jos 1:15 – then ye shall Rth 4:14 – the women 1Sa 11:4 – lifted up 2Sa 15:30 – weeping Est 4:5 – to know Job 2:11 – to come Job 6:14 – To him Job 16:4 – if your soul Job 19:21 – have pity Job 42:11 – they bemoaned Psa 35:27 – shout Amo 6:6 – but Luk 1:58 – they Luk 15:24 – they Joh 13:34 – That ye love Act 12:5 – prayer was made without ceasing Act 22:8 – whom 2Co 2:2 – General 2Co 7:13 – we were Phi 2:26 – ye had
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 12:26. The unity of the members of the fleshly body is demonstrated by this very sympathy of one for the other. If a man injures his little finger, his entire being is concerned and caused to suffer, and the whole person will try to help the wounded member to get well. Of course the point is that the different members of the body of Christ should have a like sympathy for and interest in each other. The spiritual application of the comparison is made in Rom 12:15.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Vv. 26. And whether one member suffer, all the other members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the others rejoice with it.
: and really. This mutual care cannot be wanting for the body, for in fact… The shame or contempt which overtakes one of the members of the body exercises a depressing influence on the condition of all the others. The honour, on the contrary, rendered to one, to the head, for example, when it is crowned, or to this or that other part of the body when it is brilliantly adorned, reacts on the attitude of the whole body, which erects itself and takes on a princely bearing. The application of these figures was self-evident: If gifts inferior in appearance are despised and checked, the state of the whole Church cannot fail to feel it. The honour which the most eminent gifts receive in such circumstances will not be of good quality. It cannot subserve the honour of the whole body, except in so far as the least of its members shares in it. It is clear that the special applications of all these figures must have been self-evident to the minds of the Corinthians. And so the apostle does not enunciate them; he contents himself with a wholly general application, which he gives in 1Co 12:27-30. The idea is summarily indicated in 1Co 12:27.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
And whether one member suffereth, all the members suffer with it; or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
12:26 {13} And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
(13) Now he applies this same doctrine to the Corinthians without any allegory, warning them that as there are different functions and different gifts, it is their duty not to offend one another, either by envy or ambition. Instead, in being joined together in love and charity with one another, every one of them should bestow to the profit of all that which he has received, according as his ministry requires.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The suffering of one means the suffering of all, and the well-being of one means the well-being of all.
"Plato had pointed out that we do not say, ’My finger has a pain,’ we say, ’I have a pain.’" [Note: Barclay, The Letters . . ., p. 126.]
In view of this we can and should honestly rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15).
"Ancients emphasized that true friends shared each other’s joys and sorrows." [Note: Keener, p. 104.]
Paul’s preceding comments about the body (1Co 12:12-26) are applicable to both the physical body and the spiritual body of Christ. However, he was speaking about the human body primarily, as an illustration of the spiritual body.