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Read the Bible

Weymouth New Testament

1 Corinthians 12:19

If they were all one part, where would the body be?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Church;   Scofield Reference Index - Churches;   The Topic Concordance - Body;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Selfishness;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Church;   Gifts of the spirit;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Body;   Body of Christ;   Christians, Names of;   Church, the;   Worship;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Holy Ghost;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Body;   Body of Christ;   Church;   Humanity;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Brotherly Love;   Inspiration;   Spiritual Gifts;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Character;   Dependence;   Gifts;   Good;   Unity (2);   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Fruit;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Corinthians, First Epistle to the;   Member;   Redeemer;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
And if they were all the same part, where would the body be?
King James Version (1611)
And if they were all one member, where were the body?
King James Version
And if they were all one member, where were the body?
English Standard Version
If all were a single member, where would the body be?
New American Standard Bible
If they were all one part, where would the body be?
Amplified Bible
If they all were a single organ, where would [the rest of] the body be?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
If they were all one member, where would the body be?
Legacy Standard Bible
And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
Berean Standard Bible
If they were all one part, where would the body be?
Contemporary English Version
A body isn't really a body, unless there is more than one part.
Complete Jewish Bible
Now if they were all just one part, where would the body be?
Darby Translation
But if all were one member, where the body?
Geneva Bible (1587)
For if they were all one member, where were the body?
George Lamsa Translation
If they were all one member, where would the body be?
Good News Translation
There would not be a body if it were all only one part!
Lexham English Bible
And if they all were one member, where would the body be?
Literal Translation
But if all was one member, where would the body be ?
American Standard Version
And if they were all one member, where were the body?
Bible in Basic English
And if they were all one part, where would the body be?
Hebrew Names Version
If they were all one member, where would the body be?
International Standard Version
Now if they were all one part, where would the body be?
Etheridge Translation
But if all were one member, where would be the body ?
Murdock Translation
And if they were all one member, where would be the body?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For yf they were all one member, where were the body?
English Revised Version
And if they were all one member, where were the body?
World English Bible
If they were all one member, where would the body be?
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And if all were one member, where were the body?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
That if alle weren o membre, where were the bodi?
Update Bible Version
And if there is only one member, where is the body?
Webster's Bible Translation
And if they were all one member, where [were] the body?
New English Translation
If they were all the same member, where would the body be?
New King James Version
And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
New Living Translation
How strange a body would be if it had only one part!
New Life Bible
If all the parts were the same, it could not be a body.
New Revised Standard
If all were a single member, where would the body be?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
But, if they all had been one member, Where had been, the body?
Douay-Rheims Bible
And if they all were one member, where would be the body?
Revised Standard Version
If all were a single organ, where would the body be?
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
If they were all one member: where were the body?
Young's Literal Translation
and if all were one member, where the body?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Neuertheles yf all the mebres were one membre, where were then the body?
Mace New Testament (1729)
but if they were all one member, where would be the body?
THE MESSAGE
But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out"? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?
Simplified Cowboy Version
If your body wouldn't function with just one part, how do you expect the church to function with just one part?

Contextual Overview

12 For just as the human body is one and yet has many parts, and all its parts, many as they are, constitute but one body, so it is with the Church of Christ. 13 For, in fact, in one Spirit all of us--whether we are Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free men--were baptized to form but one body; and we were all nourished by that one Spirit. 14 For the human body does not consist of one part, but of many. 15 Were the foot to say, "Because I am not a hand I am not a part of the body," that would not make it any the less a part of the body. 16 Or were the ear to say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," that would not make it any the less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the nostrils be? 18 But, as a matter of fact, God has arranged the parts in the body--every one of them--as He has seen fit. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 But, as a matter of fact, there are many parts and but one body. 21 It is also impossible for the eye to say to the hand, "I do not need you;" or again for the head to say to the feet, "I do not need you."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

1 Corinthians 12:14

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And if all were one member - If there were nothing but an eye, an ear, or a limb, there would be no body The idea which this seems intended to illustrate is, that if there was not variety of talent and endowment in the church, the church could not itself exist. If, for example, there were nothing but apostles, or prophets, or teachers; if there were none but those who spoke with tongues or could interpret them, the church could not exist. A variety of talents and attainments in their proper places is as useful as are the various members of the human body.


 
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