SEV Biblia, Chapter 12:21
Ni el ojo puede decir a la mano: No te necesito; ni asimismo la cabeza a los pies: No tengo necesidad de vosotros.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 12:21
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 laboure 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 Rom. 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.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 21. And the eye cannot say unto the hand , etc.] 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 12-26 - Christ and his church form one body, as Head and members. Christian become members of this body by baptism. The outward rite is of Divin 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 wine, but by drinking into one Spirit. Each membe has its form, place, and use. The meanest makes a part of the body There must be a distinction of members in the body. So Christ's member have different powers and different places. We should do the duties of our own place, and not murmur, or quarrel with others. All the member of the body are useful and necessary to each other. Nor is there member of the body of Christ, but may and ought to be useful to fellow-members. As in the natural body of man, the members should be closely united by the strongest bonds of love; the good of the whol should be the object of all. All Christians are dependent one upo another; each is to expect and receive help from the rest. Let us the have more of the spirit of union in our religion.
Greek Textus Receptus
ου 3756 PRT-N δυναται 1410 5736 V-PNI-3S δε 1161 CONJ οφθαλμος 3788 N-NSM ειπειν 2036 5629 V-2AAN τη 3588 T-DSF χειρι 5495 N-DSF χρειαν 5532 N-ASF σου 4675 P-2GS ουκ 3756 PRT-N εχω 2192 5719 V-PAI-1S η 2228 PRT παλιν 3825 ADV η 3588 T-NSF κεφαλη 2776 N-NSF τοις 3588 T-DPM ποσιν 4228 N-DPM χρειαν 5532 N-ASF υμων 5216 P-2GP ουκ 3756 PRT-N εχω 2192 5719 V-PAI-1S
Robertson's NT Word Studies
12:21 {Cannot say} (ou dunatai eipein). And be truthful. The superior organs need the inferior ones (the eye, the hand, the head, the feet).
