The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 12:25 Explained

1 Corinthians 12:25

KJV: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

YLT: that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same anxiety for one another,

Darby: that there might be no division in the body, but that the members might have the same concern one for another.

ASV: that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

That  there should be  no  schism  in  the body;  but  [that] the members  should have  the same  care  one for  another. 

What does 1 Corinthians 12:25 Mean?

Context Summary

1 Corinthians 12:20-31 - Each Contributing His Part
The hand and the foot obviously stand in need of each other; but the same interdependence marks the feebler and humbler parts of our frame. Indeed, it would appear as if we bestow more abundant honor on them by covering them with clothes or ornaments. In this way the least important parts of our nature are leveled up and compensated.
The Apostle's aim throughout this passage is to enforce the interdependence of believers. One gives to others that in which they are deficient, and he derives help from each of them in turn. The Christian Church is not an inert mass of mere learners and subjects who are to be authoritatively taught and ruled by a small fraction of its members. It is a great co-operative society, in which each is for all and all for each, and the object is to bring Christ into every department of our being and our fellowship, as the life-blood nourishes the body of man. A new word has lately come into use, to express the interdependence and mutual interests of men and nations; and nothing could more aptly describe the Apostle's ideal than that word solidarity. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 12

1  Spiritual gifts,
4  are diverse,
7  yet to profit all
8  And to that end are diversely bestowed;
12  as the members of a natural body tend all to the mutual decency,
22  service,
26  and helpfulness of the same body;
27  so we should do for one another, to make up the body of Christ

Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 12:25

That there should be no schism [ινα μη ηι σχισμα]
Purpose of God in his plan for the body. Trouble in one organ affects the whole body. A headache may be due to trouble elsewhere and usually is. [source]
Have the same care [το αυτο μεριμνωσιν]
The very verb μεριμναω — merimnaō used by Jesus of our anxiety (Matthew 6:27, Matthew 6:31). Paul here personifies the parts of the body as if each one is anxious for the others. The modern knowledge of the billions of cells in the body Corinthians-working for the whole confirms Paul‘s argument. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 12:25

Matthew 6:25 Take no thought [μὴ μεριμνᾶτε]
The cognate noun is μέριμνα , care, which was formerly derived from μερίς , a part; μερίζω , to divide; and was explained accordingly as a dividing care, distracting the heart from the true object of life, This has been abandoned, however, and the word is placed in a group which carries the common notion of earnest thoughtfulness. It may include the ideas of worry and anxiety, and may emphasize these, but not necessarily. See, for example, “careth for the things of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:32). “That the members should have the same care one for another” (1 Corinthians 12:25). “Who will care for your state?” (Philemon 2:20). In all these the sense of worry would be entirely out of place. In other cases that idea is prominent, as, “the care of this world,” which chokes the good seed (Matthew 13:22; compare Luke 8:14). Of Martha; “Thou art careful ” (Luke 10:41). Take thought, in this passage, was a truthful rendering when the A. V. was made, since thought was then used as equivalent to anxiety or solicitude. So Shakspeare (“Hamlet”):“The native hue of resolutionIs sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought. ” And Bacon (Henry VII.): “Hawis, an alderman of London, was put in trouble, and died with thought and anguish.” Somers' “Tracts” (in Queen Elizabeth's reign): “Queen Catherine Parr died rather of thought. ” The word has entirely lost this meaning. Bishop Lightfoot (“On a Fresh Revision of the New Testament”) says: “I have heard of a political economist alleging this passage as an objection to the moral teaching of the sermon on the mount, on the ground that it encouraged, nay, commanded, a reckless neglect of the future.” It is uneasiness and worry about the future which our Lord condemns here, and therefore Rev. rightly translates be not anxious. This phase of the word is forcibly brought out in 1 Peter 5:7, where the A. V. ignores the distinction between the two kinds of care. “Casting all your care ( μέριμναν , Rev., anxiety )-DIVIDER-
upon Him, for He careth ( αὐτῷ μέλει )-DIVIDER-
for you,” with a fatherly, tender, and provident care.”-DIVIDER-
[source]

Matthew 6:25 Be not anxious for your life [μη μεριμνατε τηι πσυχηι μων]
This is as good a translation as the Authorized Version was poor; “Take no thought for your life.” The old English word “thought” meant anxiety or worry as Shakespeare says:“The native hue of resolution Is sicklied o‘er with the pale cast of thought.”Vincent quotes Bacon (Henry VII): “Harris, an alderman of London, was put in trouble and died with thought and anguish.” But words change with time and now this passage is actually quoted (Lightfoot) “as an objection to the moral teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, on the ground that it encouraged, nay, commanded, a reckless neglect of the future.” We have narrowed the word to mere planning without any notion of anxiety which is in the Greek word. The verb μεριμναω — merimnaō is from μερισ μεριζω — meris class="normal greek">παγωμεν πιωμεν περιβαλωμετα — merizō because care or anxiety distracts and divides. It occurs in Christ‘s rebuke to Martha for her excessive solicitude about something to eat (Luke 10:41). The notion of proper care and forethought appears in 1 Corinthians 7:32; 1 Corinthians 12:25; Philemon 2:20. It is here the present imperative with the negative, a command not to have the habit of petulant worry about food and clothing, a source of anxiety to many housewives, a word for women especially as the command not to worship mammon may be called a word for men. The command can mean that they must stop such worry if already indulging in it. In Matthew 6:31 Jesus repeats the prohibition with the ingressive aorist subjunctive: “Do not become anxious,” “Do not grow anxious.” Here the direct question with the deliberative subjunctive occurs with each verb (περιβαλωμετα — phagōmen class="normal greek">ενδυσηστε — piōmen class="normal greek">τηι πσυχηι — peribalōmetha). This deliberative subjunctive of the direct question is retained in the indirect question employed in Matthew 6:25. A different verb for clothing occurs, both in the indirect middle (πσυχηι — peribalōmetha fling round ourselves in Matthew 6:31, σωμα — endusēsthe put on yourselves in Matthew 6:25).For your life (Πσυχη — tēi psuchēi). “Here καρδια — psuchēi stands for the life principle common to man and beast, which is embodied in the διανοια — sōma the former needs food, the latter clothing” (McNeile). πνευμα — Psuchē in the Synoptic Gospels occurs in three senses (McNeile): either the life principle in the body as here and which man may kill (Mark 3:4) or the seat of the thoughts and emotions on a par with πσυχη — kardia and dianoia (Matthew 22:37) and pneuma (Luke 1:46; cf. John 12:27; John 13:21) or something higher that makes up the real self (Matthew 10:28; Matthew 16:26). In Matthew 16:25 (Luke 9:25) psuchē appears in two senses paradoxical use, saving life and losing it. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

1 Corinthians 1:10 Through the name [δια του ονοματος]
Genitive, not accusative (cause or reason), as the medium or instrument of the appeal (2 Corinthians 10:1; Romans 12:1; Romans 15:30). That (ινα — hina). Purport (sub-final) rather than direct purpose, common idiom in Koiné{[28928]}š (Robertson, Grammar, pp.991-4) like Matthew 14:36. Used here with λεγητε ηι ητε κατηρτισμενοι — legēteλεγητε παντες — ēiμη ηι εν υμιν σχισματα — ēte katērtismenoi though expressed only once. All speak Present active subjunctive, that ye all keep on speaking. With the divisions in mind. An idiom from Greek political life (Lightfoot). This touch of the classical writers argues for Paul‘s acquaintance with Greek culture. There be no divisions among you (σχιζω — mē ēi en humin schismata). Present subjunctive, that divisions may not continue to be (they already had them). Negative statement of preceding idea. αιρεσεις — Schisma is from στασις — schizō old word to split or rend, and so means a rent (Matthew 9:16; Mark 2:21). Papyri use it for a splinter of wood and for ploughing. Here we have the earliest instance of its use in a moral sense of division, dissension, see also 1 Corinthians 11:18 where a less complete change than ητε δε κατηρτισμενοι — haireseis 1 Corinthians 12:25; John 7:43 (discord); John 9:16; John 10:19. “Here, faction, for which the classical word is νοι — stasis division within the Christian community” (Vincent). These divisions were over the preachers (1:12-4:21), immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1-13), going to law before the heathen (1 Corinthians 6:1-11), marriage (7:1-40), meats offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8-10), conduct of women in church (11:1-16), the Lord‘s Supper (11:17-34), spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14), the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). But that ye be perfected together Periphrastic perfect passive subjunctive. See this verb in Matthew 4:21 (Mark 1:19) for mending torn nets and in moral sense already in 1 Thessalonians 3:10. Galen uses it for a surgeon‘s mending a joint and Herodotus for composing factions. See 2 Corinthians 13:11; Galatians 6:1. Mind (νους — noi), judgment (γνωμη — gnōmēi). “Of these words νους — nous denotes the frame or state of mind, gnōmē the judgment, opinion or sentiment, which is the outcome of nous ” (Lightfoot). [source]
1 Corinthians 1:10 All speak [Σχισμα]
Present active subjunctive, that ye all keep on speaking. With the divisions in mind. An idiom from Greek political life (Lightfoot). This touch of the classical writers argues for Paul‘s acquaintance with Greek culture. There be no divisions among you (σχιζω — mē ēi en humin schismata). Present subjunctive, that divisions may not continue to be (they already had them). Negative statement of preceding idea. αιρεσεις — Schisma is from στασις — schizō old word to split or rend, and so means a rent (Matthew 9:16; Mark 2:21). Papyri use it for a splinter of wood and for ploughing. Here we have the earliest instance of its use in a moral sense of division, dissension, see also 1 Corinthians 11:18 where a less complete change than ητε δε κατηρτισμενοι — haireseis 1 Corinthians 12:25; John 7:43 (discord); John 9:16; John 10:19. “Here, faction, for which the classical word is νοι — stasis division within the Christian community” (Vincent). These divisions were over the preachers (1:12-4:21), immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1-13), going to law before the heathen (1 Corinthians 6:1-11), marriage (7:1-40), meats offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8-10), conduct of women in church (11:1-16), the Lord‘s Supper (11:17-34), spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14), the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). But that ye be perfected together Periphrastic perfect passive subjunctive. See this verb in Matthew 4:21 (Mark 1:19) for mending torn nets and in moral sense already in 1 Thessalonians 3:10. Galen uses it for a surgeon‘s mending a joint and Herodotus for composing factions. See 2 Corinthians 13:11; Galatians 6:1. Mind (νους — noi), judgment (γνωμη — gnōmēi). “Of these words νους — nous denotes the frame or state of mind, gnōmē the judgment, opinion or sentiment, which is the outcome of nous ” (Lightfoot). [source]
1 Corinthians 1:10 There be no divisions among you [σχιζω]
Present subjunctive, that divisions may not continue to be (they already had them). Negative statement of preceding idea. αιρεσεις — Schisma is from στασις — schizō old word to split or rend, and so means a rent (Matthew 9:16; Mark 2:21). Papyri use it for a splinter of wood and for ploughing. Here we have the earliest instance of its use in a moral sense of division, dissension, see also 1 Corinthians 11:18 where a less complete change than ητε δε κατηρτισμενοι — haireseis 1 Corinthians 12:25; John 7:43 (discord); John 9:16; John 10:19. “Here, faction, for which the classical word is νοι — stasis division within the Christian community” (Vincent). These divisions were over the preachers (1:12-4:21), immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1-13), going to law before the heathen (1 Corinthians 6:1-11), marriage (7:1-40), meats offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8-10), conduct of women in church (11:1-16), the Lord‘s Supper (11:17-34), spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12-14), the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15). [source]
Galatians 5:13 To the flesh [τῃ σαρκί]
See on Romans 7:5. The flesh here represents lovelessness and selfishness. Christian freedom is not to be abused for selfish ends. Paul treats this subject at length in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; 1 Corinthians 12:25, 1 Corinthians 12:26. Individual liberty is subject to the law of love and mutual service. Comp. 1 Peter 2:16. [source]
Hebrews 10:24 To provoke [εἰς παροξυσμὸν]
Lit. with a view to incitement. Only here and Acts 15:39. From παροξύνειν tosharpen. Hence to stimulate. In Acts 15:39, the result of provocation; irritation or contention. Here the act of incitement. Twice in lxx, Deuteronomy href="/desk/?q=de+29:27&sr=1">Deuteronomy 29:27); Jeremiah href="/desk/?q=jer+32:3&sr=1">Jeremiah 32:3, Jeremiah 32:7); for the Hebrew קֶצֶף anger, wrath, altercation. The Hebrew derivation is from קָצַֽף a splinter. The new economy demands mutual care on the part of the members of the Christian community. Comp. 1 Corinthians 12:25. They must stir up each other's religious affections and ministries. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 12:25 mean?

that not there should be division in the body but the same for one another should have concern the members
ἵνα μὴ σχίσμα ἐν τῷ σώματι ἀλλὰ τὸ αὐτὸ ὑπὲρ ἀλλήλων μεριμνῶσιν τὰ μέλη

ἵνα  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
  there  should  be 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
σχίσμα  division 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: σχίσμα  
Sense: a rent.
σώματι  body 
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: σῶμα  
Sense: the body both of men or animals.
αὐτὸ  same 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative Neuter 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
ἀλλήλων  one  another 
Parse: Personal / Reciprocal Pronoun, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: ἀλλήλων  
Sense: one another, reciprocally, mutually.
μεριμνῶσιν  should  have  concern 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: μεριμνάω  
Sense: to be anxious.
μέλη  members 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Plural
Root: μέλος  
Sense: a member, limb: a member of the human body.