1 Corinthians 12:17

ESV If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

NIV If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

NASB If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?

CSB If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

NLT If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

KJV If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

NKJV If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?

What does 1 Corinthians 12:17 mean?

Paul has described a comically-absurd scenario. Imagine a human body where the foot is disgruntled that it cannot be one of the hands. Perhaps it wants the prestige of doing "hand" tasks; it doesn't like being inside of shoes anymore. Or suppose there is an ear who declares itself independent of the body because it cannot be an eye. Even if it were possible for body parts to have such feelings, Paul's point is that there's nothing they could do about it.

In the same way, those in Christ have been given their own unique spiritual gifts, as well as specific functions to do in the body of Christ. Those functions require their specific gifts. Apparently, some in the church in Corinth were discontent with their role in the church, with the purpose God had uniquely equipped them to fulfill. Perhaps, they wanted out. Or they simply refused to use those God-given abilities.

Christians, though, like body parts, can't just walk away from the body they belong to. Every believer remains attached to the body of Christ. Like a stubborn body part, all a saved believer can do is refuse to function—making them the equivalent of a paralyzed limb or an inert organ. The best that we can do, once we have discovered what our function is, is to learn how vital it is to the church and to do it with the power of God.

Paul demonstrates that by calling attention to the work of hearing. If ears and all the other body parts decided to be eyes, how would the body hear anything? If there were only ears, on the other hand, the body would lose its sense of smell. Every body part—every believer, without exception—serves an essential function in the body.

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Context Summary
First Corinthians 12:12–31 continues Paul's teaching on the spiritual gifts as they cooperate to empower God's will for the church. The Christian church is like a human body. It is one individual organism made up of many different parts that serve a wide variety of functions. All those functions matter. Nobody should decide they don't like their gift or their role in the church and try to quit. The body needs each member to do its part in order to work properly. We must respect and value each other for the vital roles we serve in the church.

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Chapter Summary
Apparently in response to further questions from Corinth, Paul describes what spiritual gifts are, who receives them, and what they are for. His emphasis is that particular spiritual gifts do not make believers spiritual. Every believer is spiritual because every Christian has God's Spirit with him or her. In addition, the Spirit gives one or more spiritual gifts to each believer to be used to serve the church. The church is like a body, in which every part is needed, and all the parts exist to serve one another. Every believer must discover how they are gifted by the Spirit and value the function they serve in Christ's body.

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