1 Corinthians 12:16

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

If the ear would say, "Because I'm not the eye, I'm not part of the body," it's not therefore not part of the body.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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οὖς

oûs

G3775

“ear”

Noun, Nominative, Singular, Neuter

Appears 36× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 10:27

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: apparently a primary word

TDNT: 14:03,7

1. the ear 2. metaph. the faculty of perceiving with the mind, the faculty of understanding and knowing

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

22: words
13: distinct lemmas
Pauline Epistles: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

οὖς ear G3775 occurs in 34 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

Words recur within this verse:

εἰμὶ to be G1510 ×3
σώματος body G4983 ×2
οὐκ not G3756 ×4
τὸ the G3588 ×3
ἐκ from G1537 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 1 Corinthians 12:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith.
Romans 12:10 In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate one to another; in honor preferring one another;
1 Corinthians 12:22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
Philippians 2:3 doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on 1 Corinthians 12:16 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

1Co 12:16. Τὸ οὖς, the ear) a part less noble.—ὀφθαλμὸς, the eye) a most noble and most commanding (ἠγεμονικὴ) part of the body, comp. Num 10:31. Sight excels hearing, 1Co 12:17; 1Co 12:21.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hodge's Commentary on Romans, Ephesians & First Corinthians

Charles Hodge

1Co_12:15, 1Co_12:16

If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 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?

The first and most obvious conclusion from the view which Paul had given of the nature of the church is the duty of contentment. It is just as unreasonable and absurd for the foot to complain that it is not the hand, as for one member of the church to complain that he is not another; that is, for a teacher to complain that he is not an apostle; or for a deaconess to complain that she is not a presbyter; or for one who had the gift of healing to complain that he had not the gift of tongues. This, as the apostle shows, would destroy the very idea of the church.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And if the ear shall say,.... The organ that receives sounds, and can distinguish them, and in which member is placed the sense of hearing; and may design such as are hearers of the word of God, not merely externally, but internally; who hear so as to love, savour, and relish it; so as to understand and believe it, and to act in compliance with it; and distinguish it for themselves, though they may not be able to give a distinct account of it to others, or instruct others in it:

because I am not the eye: the organ of seeing, in which is seated the visive faculty, and which receives light, and uses it for the good of the body, whose superintendent it is; and may be expressive of the ministers of the Gospel, who are that to the church, as eyes are to the body; they are the light of the world, have a clear insight into the doctrines of the Gospel, and communicate their light to others; they are set in the highest place in the church, and as watchmen and overseers there, to instruct; guide, and direct the members of it:

I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? it certainly is; and so such as are only hearers of the Gospel, being affectionate, believing, understanding and fruitful hearers; though they have not such large knowledge and clear light, so as to be capable of overseeing and instructing others, yet are true and useful members of the church, are highly respected by Christ the head, and to be had in esteem by their fellow members, who may be superior to them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

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?

Ver. 16. If the ear] A man had better be blind, lame, dumb, than deaf; because by the ear life enters into the soul, Isa 55:3.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

16. No one must claim that he is not sharer of the Church because he is only a hearer and not an overseer, any more than the ear is excluded from the body because it is not the eye.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

The ear - A less noble part. The eye - The most noble.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

McGarvey & Pendleton's Commentaries

J. W. McGarvey

And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; it is not therefore not of the body . [This passage exposes the folly of those who were belittling themselves in the presence of their fellow-Christians. Being in the church, they were organically united to the entire church body. If they felt that their inferiority in gifts excluded them, they were not thereby excluded. Their false views and false assertions did not alter their true condition. Paul associates the members of action (foot and hand) and the members of sensation (eye and ear), and represents each as complaining against the other, because men are apt to be envious and to disparage themselves as to those who have superior gifts similar to their own. We are not envious of those whose gifts are dissimilar. It is the foot and not the eye that envies the hand.]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

1 Corinthians, in the Pauline Epistles, opens this verse with 22 words (13 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is oûs (“ear”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word oûs carries the sense “ear.” How does it shape the verse?
How does Matthew 10:27, which shares the word «ear», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “to be” (3× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
Compare how Bengel's Gnomon and Hodge's Commentary on Romans, Ephesians & First Corinthians read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 8 words in this verse.
“to be” occurs 3× in this single verse.
13 distinct Greek lemmas span 22 words in this verse.