Yes, there are many parts, but only one body.
Parallel translations
- WEB But now they are many members, but one body.
- KJV But now are they many members, yet but one body.
- BSB As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
- NKJV But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
- NASB But now there are many parts, but one body.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
There are many members, yet only one body. Unity and diversity hold together at once.
Overview
Paul summarizes the balance at the heart of this passage: the church is genuinely many in its members and genuinely one in its life. Neither the diversity nor the unity may be sacrificed. This reflects the wisdom of God, who unites varied people into a single body joined to Christ by His Spirit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- 1 Cor 12:14For the body is not one member, but many.
- 1 Cor 12:12For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 12:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.