Those parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and our unpresentable parts have more abundant propriety;
Parallel Translations
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Those parts of the body which we think to be less honorable, on those we bestow more abundant honor; and our unpresentable parts have more abundant propriety;
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And apon those membres of that body which we thinke lest honest put we most honestie on. And oure vngodly parties have most beauty on.
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And vpon those members of the body, which wee thinke most vnhonest, put wee more honestie on: and our vncomely parts haue more comelinesse on.
Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to 1 Corinthians 12:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 3:21 Yahweh God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 23. Which are less honorable. Here we have a…
23. Which are less honorable. Here we have a second argument — that the dishonor of one member turns out to the common disgrace of the whole body, as appears from the care that we take to cover the parts that are less honorable. “Those parts that are comely,” says he, “do not require adventitious ornament; but the parts that involve shame, or are less comely, are cared for by us with greater concern. Why so? but because their shame would be the common disgrace of the whole body.” To invest with honor is to put on a covering for the sake of ornament, in order that those members may be honorably concealed, which would involve shame if uncovered.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain We more carefully cover them.
We more carefully cover them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 23 And those members of the body, which we…
23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
Ver. 23. And those members] As the organs of excretion and generation, called less honourable and uncomely, non per se, sed comparate, comparatively in respect of those parts that are singularly comely.
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Our uncomely parts, &c.] It was at the abomination of Baal-peor, or Priapus, that his worshippers said, Nos, pudore pulso, stamus sub Iove, caelis apertis, &c. God taught our first parents to make coverings to hide their nakedness, and the contrary is often threatened as a curse, Isa 3:17.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain All know what those parts of the body are,…
All know what those parts of the body are, which are commonly judged less honourable and less comely; upon these we bestow more abundant honour and comeliness, by hiding them and covering them, that they are not, as the hands, and face, and head, (which we esteem more honourable parts of the body), exposed to the public view of those with whom we converse.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Still our apostle proceeds in that elegant comparison betwixt…
Still our apostle proceeds in that elegant comparison betwixt the members of the body natural and the body mystical; showing, that as there are some members in the natural body that are less honourable, and some that are more honourable; and whereas we put more abundant honour upon the less honourable members by a decent covering and modest adorning of them, but upon our comely parts, such as the face, we put no covering, being comely enough of itself, and lacking no artificial beauty; in like manner all the members of the mystical body ought to be instructed that the meanest offices in the church, and the meanest members of the church, who have least gifts, are as well of that spiritual body, the church, as those that have more excellent offices and gifts: and as the meaner must not envy the more excellent, so neither must the more excellent despise the meaner, but put a due value and respect upon one another.
For practising of which duty, a double reason is here assigned:
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1. That there may be no schism in the body, but the members have the same care for, and regard to, one another; if the members of the natural body should strive among themselves, the whole body would come to ruin by schism; so great mischief would arise to the church, the mystical body, by divisions and dissensions amongst the particular members of it.
2. Because there ought to be a sympathy between the members of the mystical body, as there is betwixt the members of the natural body. There is a feeling with each other, both of joy and grief, in and among the natural members: they all rejoice and mourn with one another: if one member be pinched, the whole body is pained.
Thus all the mystical members of Christ’s body, the church, ought to have the same common interest, the same common concern, the same common care, and the same mutual sympathy, with each other, both in weal and woe.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And those members of the body,.... As the back…
And those members of the body,.... As the back parts of it:
which we think to be less honourable; though greatly useful,
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upon these we bestow more abundant honour; by clothing them, for a man's garments are his honour and glory; See Gill on Mat 6:29, so the poor members of Christ's church, who are thought to be, though they really are not, the less honourable, have the more abundant honour conferred on them by God and Christ: God has chosen the poor of this world; Christ has sent his Gospel to them; these the Spirit calls and sanctifies, and makes them all glorious within; these Christ has given his churches a particular charge to take care of now, and will own them as his brethren at the great day, before angels and men; as he now greatly honours them with his presence, a large experience of his grace, and the supply of his Spirit:
and our uncomely parts; which distinguish sexes, and are appointed for generation;
have more abundant comeliness; by an external covering and ornament, to preserve decency and modesty. I do not know who should be designed by these, unless backsliding believers, who have been suffered to fall into great sins; these are the uncomely parts of the church, who, when made sensible of their evils, are restored again, and received into the church; and a mantle of love is cast over all their failings; and all possible care taken that their faults may not be exposed to the world, that so the name of God, and ways of Christ, may not be blasphemed and evil spoken of.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain We surround with more abundant honour - By so…
We surround with more abundant honour - By so carefully covering them. More abundant comeliness - By the help of dress.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain We bestow more abundant honour - Margin, “Put on.”…
We bestow more abundant honour - Margin, “Put on.” The words rendered “abundant honor” here, refer to clothing. We bestow upon them more attention and honor then we do on the face that is deemed comely, and that is not covered and adorned as the other parts of the body are.
More abundant comeliness - We adorn and decorate the body with frivilous apparel. Those parts which decency requires us to conceal we not only cover, but we endeavor as far as we can to adorn them. The face in the mean time we leave uncovered. The idea is, that, in like manner, we should not despise or disregard those members of the church who are of lower rank, or who are less favored than others with spiritual endowments.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain less honourable--"We think" the feet and the belly "less…
less honourable--"We think" the feet and the belly "less honorable," though not really so in the nature of things.
bestow . . . honour--putting shoes on (Margin) the feet, and clothes to cover the belly.
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uncomely parts--the secret parts: the poorest, though unclad in the rest of the body, cover these.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 23. Less honourable—The digestive and reproductive systems in the…
23. Less honourable—The digestive and reproductive systems in the human frame, while, strange as is the problem, propriety shrinks from naming them, are still the objects of our most earnest care. In the apologue of Menenius Agrippa it was the belly that was the aristocracy. The sexual passion, as a sentiment or as an appetite, rules a large share of human life.
Uncomely… comeliness—We make an ornament of that dress which was originally a mere cover; a cover for comfort or for modesty. It is marvellous to note how small a share of the human system propriety allows to be uncovered.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 23. and those members of the body, which we…
23. and those members of the body, which we think to be lets honourable, upon these we bestow (literally, these we surround with) more abundant honour] i.e. by our admission that they are necessary to us. “The meanest trades are those with which we can least dispense. A nation may exist without an astronomer or philosopher, but the day-labourer is essential to the existence of man.”—Robertson.
and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness] Those parts which we are accustomed, from their ‘uncomeliness’ (rather, perhaps, unseemliness, since the word here used conveys an idea of shame), to conceal by clothing, do nevertheless perform nearly all the most important and necessary functions of the body.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Which we think to be less honourable. The shelter…
Which we think to be less honourable. The shelter and ornament of clothing are used to cover those parts of the body which are conventionally regarded as the least seemly. The whole of this illustration is meant to show that rich and poor, great and small, high and low, gifted and ungifted, have all their own separate and indispensable functions, and no class of Christians can wisely disparage or forego the aid derived from other and different classes. The unity of the members in one body corresponds to "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" which should prevail in the Church.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain and those parts of the body, which we think…
and those parts of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness ;
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.