Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [1 Corinthians: Chapter 12].
middle indicative. God did it and of himself. {Even as it pleased
him} (\kath•s •thel•sen\). Why challenge God's will? Cf. Ro
9:20.
12:19 {One member} (\hen melos\). Paul applies the logic of verse
17 to any member of the body. The application to members of the
church is obvious. It is particularly pertinent in the case of a
"church boss."
12:20 {Many members, but one body} (\polla mel•, hen de s•ma\).
The argument in a nutshell, in one epigram.
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).
12:22 {Nay, much rather} (\alla poll•i mallon\). Adversative
sense of \alla\, on the contrary. So far from the more dignified
members like the eye and the head being independent of the
subordinate ones like the hands and feet, they are "much more"
(_argumentum a fortiori_, "by much more" \poll•i mallon\,
instrumental case) in need of therm. {Those members of the body
which seem to be more feeble are necessary} (\ta dokounta mel•
tou s•matos asthenestera huparchein anagkaia estin\). Things are
not always what they seem. The vital organs (heart, lungs, liver,
kidneys) are not visible, but life cannot exist without them.
12:23 {We bestow} (\peritithemen\). Literally, We place around as
if a garland (Mr 15:17) or a garment (Mt 27:28). {More
abundant comeliness} (\eusch•mosun•n perissoteran\). One need
only mention the mother's womb and the mother's breast to see the
force of Paul's argument here. The word, common in old Greek,
from \eusch•m•n\ (\eu\, well, \sch•ma\, figure), here only in
N.T. One may think of the coal-miner who digs under the earth for
the coal to keep us warm in winter. So \asch•m•n\ (deformed,
uncomely), old word, here only in N.T., but see 7:36 for
\asch•mone•\.
12:24 {Tempered the body together} (\sunekerasen to s•ma\). First
aorist active indicative of \sunkerannumi\, to mix together, old
word, but in N.T. only here and Heb 4:2. Plato used this very
word of the way God compounded (\sunekerasato\) the various
elements of the body in creating soul and body. Paul rejects the
idea of the later Gnostics that matter is evil and the physical
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